Gas factory

A Gas factory is a phrase used to describe an unnecessarily complex system design or implementation for a relatively simpler set of requirements. The phrase draws parallels with the complex piping structures observed in oil refineries. Example usage, "I asked for a software solution not a Gas factory".

Gas factories are examples of an anti-pattern.

See also

• Functionality creep, when a physical document or other non-computer related procedure ends up serving unexpected or unplanned purposes.
• Scope creep, when the features of a project gradually increase.
• Software bloat, the inefficient use of memory and storage space.