When is an added feature bloat, and when is it actually useful?

Bloat is subjective: If there's a lot of stuff in an API that I don't have any use for, it's bloat. The stuff I use isn't bloat.

The problem comes when an API (or a program) starts serving diverse communities, with non- (or barely-) overlapping needs and desires. Each might have a valid reason for a set of convenience methods, but, taken as a whole, everyone cries bloat. Microsoft Word is a good example of how this happens. The Word Product Managers will tell you that for every feature, there was someone who asked for it.

The only no-brainer bloat is stuff that nobody uses.

In reply to Re: When is a feature bloat? by dws
in thread When is a feature bloat? by ajt

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