These are the principles that guide the major design decisions in Concourse for the benefit of both users and developers

• Works right out the box
• Self explanatory
• Simply configurable when necessary 
• No XML

Concourse should work right out the box–no assembly required

• Use sensible default preferences so that Concourse is immediately usable after installation without the need for additional configuration
• One click installation (just press play)
• Minimal external dependencies
• Where possible, package any external dependencies with Concourse

Tuning Concourse should be simple and painless

• Use simple key/value preferences
• Tuning preferences all go in one file

Concourse should never use XML for anything

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Press Play in Production (P3)

• Concourse should work in a production environment right out of the box with no assembly.
• Leverage pre-installed core system tools as much as possible
• Bundle any third party dependencies with the application
• User should never be forced to manually configure anything (i.e. edit paths, move files, etc) in order for the system to work
• The system should be configurable, but must have reasonable defaults that are suitable for the vast majority of cases