--- title: Software can be finished | daily.dev description: Explores the concept of "finished software" as a thought experiment to challenge conventional development practices. Defines finished software as... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/software-can-be-finished-qawtvnore twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Software can be finished | daily.dev og:description: Explores the concept of "finished software" as a thought experiment to challenge conventional development practices. Defines finished software as... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/software-can-be-finished-qawtvnore og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/QaWtVnore.png og:image:alt: Software can be finished og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Software can be finished **[Lobsters](https://daily.dev/sources/lobsters)** · 11 min read · 50 upvotes · 2 comments ## Summary Explores the concept of "finished software" as a thought experiment to challenge conventional development practices. Defines finished software as feature-complete, secure, and standalone with minimal dependencies. Uses examples like the Nintendo Gameboy, embedded systems, and small JavaScript apps to illustrate software that requires no updates. Discusses principles for building finished software: understanding requirements deeply, keeping scope small, reducing dependencies, producing static output, and increasing quality assurance. Emphasizes this as a theoretical framework for thinking about trade-offs rather than a universal goal. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@basicaly** · 4 upvotes > Certainly an interesting way to think about it that would benefit many. 😄 **@spencerflagg** · 2 upvotes > DHH vibes. 👍 ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [I like when apps are "finished"](https://daily.dev/posts/i-like-when-apps-are-finished--ust734ep8) · Cassidy's blog · 130 upvotes · 18 comments - [Earn \*And\* Learn](https://daily.dev/posts/earn-and-learn-omq2jpjn7) · Software Design: Tidy First? · 1 upvotes · 1 comments - [Why Is Everything in Software Always 90% Done?](https://daily.dev/posts/why-is-everything-in-software-always-90-done--bwqukhza4) · Medium · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Software developers have become their own joke](https://daily.dev/posts/software-developers-have-become-their-own-joke-yhvfbk1ij) · RUBYLAND · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#javascript](https://daily.dev/tags/javascript), [#architecture](https://daily.dev/tags/architecture), [#embedded](https://daily.dev/tags/embedded) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/software-can-be-finished-qawtvnore) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Software can be finished","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/software-can-be-finished-qawtvnore","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/software-can-be-finished-qawtvnore"},"datePublished":"2025-10-19T10:57:50.176Z","dateModified":"2025-10-19T10:58:15.954Z","description":"Explores the concept of \"finished software\" as a thought experiment to challenge conventional development practices. 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