The One-True-Way Fallacy: Why Mature Developers Don’t Worship a Single Programming Paradigm

In today’s developer landscape, many programmers—both new and seasoned—cling to a single coding paradigm as the “one true way,” dismissing others like object-oriented, functional, or event-driven programming as bloated or misguided. But real engineering maturity comes from knowing why each paradigm exists and when to use it. The most successful developers choose their tools based on risk, scalability, and maintainability—not ideology. This article explores why the refusal to evolve beyond one style limits growth, risks project failure, and ignores decades of hard-earned lessons in software design.