Agents hand you five working versions. How do you pick the one that ships?

I usually keep the version that's easiest to improve later. Future me always appreciates simpler code.

Would stronger tests make a more complex version worth shipping instead?

i usually compare how easily another developer can understand the feature before shipping. what happens when the simplest version limits future improvements and flexibility?

Hello Alexander, I like your approach. I have learned that the cleanest solution often outlasts the cleverst one

My filter is maintainability. I ask myself whether I would feel comfortable making changes to this code six months from now.

I compare the edge cases. If one version handles failures more gracefully without adding much complexity , I usually ship that one.

I use a similar filter, but I add one more question, Would I still understand this code six months from now? The version that future me can maintain usually wins over the clever one.

I would also measure how easily the feature can be replaced without affecting other parts. Does modular design sometimes beat the smallest implementation in real projects?

simplest-one-wins is right and mine is close to it. i add one more filter: pick the version i can hand to one other person and have them say "yeah this did the thing" without me narrating what they're looking at.

when the agent hands me five, four of them require me standing next to the reader explaining what the buttons do. the fifth one lands solo. that one ships. the others are demos disguised as features.

My rule is boring is beautiful. The code nobody wants to brag about is often the code that survives production the longest.