Łukasz Reszke Speaking at DDD Europe
•February 23, 2026
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Why It Matters
Neglecting conditional design inflates maintenance costs and risks system failures, directly impacting delivery speed and product reliability.
Key Takeaways
- •Overusing simple if statements creates hidden technical debt
- •Incremental “add another if” feels cheap but compounds complexity
- •Bloated conditional logic makes testing and maintenance unpredictable
- •Early detection prevents codebase from becoming unmaintainable over time
- •Refactoring strategies restore clarity and reduce future risk
Summary
In his DDD Europe talk, Łukasz Reszke warns that poorly designed if statements can become a silent source of technical debt, undermining the reliability of any software system.
He illustrates how the temptation to “just add another if” offers an immediate dopamine hit and appears cost‑free, yet each addition inflates functions, classes, and test arrangements, eventually making the codebase brittle and unpredictable.
Reszke likens the process to a drug habit and a ship’s hull developing a hole: “add another if” feels harmless at first, but the cumulative effect lets water in, threatening the entire vessel.
The takeaway for developers and managers is clear: enforce disciplined conditional design, regularly refactor bloated branches, and invest in early detection to avoid escalating maintenance costs and potential system failures.
Original Description
Domain-Driven Design Europe 2025 - Organised by Aardling (https://aardling.eu/)
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