KICK Principle - Keep It Complex, Knucklehead

KICK is an acronym for "Keep It Complex, Knucklehead!" and is the exact opposite of "KISS - Keep It Simple, Stupid!" It's followers believe that in order to demonstrate their mastery of a particular subject they have to devise a method which is less obvious, more long-winded, more obscure or obtuse, and which ends up by resembling a Rube Goldberg machine instead of something which is practical and efficient.

A programmer's job is to write code, and a good programmer should aim to complete complex tasks using simple code rather than complete simple tasks using complex code.

See also:

• Let's make It More Complicated Than It really Is Just To Prove How Clever We Are
• Holier than the Pope