15 Software Engineering Principles Every Developer Should Know

Software engineering is not just about writing code that works. It’s about writing code that survives change, scale, and time. After working on multiple systems—from small APIs to distributed agent infrastructure—I’ve noticed that great engineers don’t just know syntax. They follow principles that quietly prevent chaos later. Here are 15 core software engineering principles that consistently separate maintainable systems from fragile ones. 1. Keep Things Simple (KISS) Complexity is a liability,