TIL

Data-Oriented Design Over OOP

Following Jonathan Blow’s philosophy, prefer simple structs and functions over class hierarchies:

// BAD: Over-engineered OOP
class VulkanRenderer : public Singleton<VulkanRenderer> {
    // 500 lines of abstraction
};
VulkanRenderer::Instance().DoThing();

// GOOD: Data-oriented
struct VulkanState {
    VkInstance instance;
    VkDevice device;
    // Just the data we need
};
VulkanState vk = {};
init_vulkan(&vk);

Key principles:

1. Simple beats clever - “Well designed” code that won’t compile is worthless
2. Patterns are often anti-patterns - Singleton, Factory add complexity without value
3. Direct is better than abstracted - Just call the functions
4. Data over objects - A struct with its data is clearer than a class with hidden state

Signs you’re over-engineering:

• ❌ Design patterns everywhere (Singleton, Factory, Template Method)
• ❌ Deep inheritance hierarchies (A → B → C → D)
• ❌ Template metaprogramming
• ❌ Gang of Four patterns applied religiously
• ❌ Code won’t compile because abstractions got in the way

Better approach:

• ✅ Plain structs holding data
• ✅ Free functions that operate on structs
• ✅ Only abstract when you have 3+ concrete examples
• ✅ Solve today’s problems today, not hypothetical future ones