The longer I've worked in the field of software engineering, the clearer it's become what I care about, and what I don't. If something is mostly subjective, I'm flexible. Preferences around code style don't matter much to me unless they actually change outcomes.

Where I do care is when there's real impact.

Continuous integration is a good example. It's been studied and shown to reduce merge conflicts, shorten feedback loops, and enable teams to deliver software more reliably. That's why I tend to favor trunk-based development. It aligns closely with those principles and helps prevent rework.

By contrast, debates like functional vs. object-oriented programming are usually philosophical. Either can work. Context matters more than dogma.

I think it's important to be flexible and not dogmatic when things are subjective, when it's really just one person's opinion versus another person's. I try to focus my energy on practices that objectively help teams work more efficiently and ship more reliably.

Focus more on outcomes and less on subjective opinions.