Do you remember way back in kindergarten, when we each had an assigned cubby or basket to put our belongings in? Our teachers were smart. They didn't want to go looking for stuff when it was time to get ready to go home. Imagine the pandemonium of a bunch of kids running around the classroom, the teacher chasing them down, the bus driver honking the last call horn, and I still can't find my coat!
To the developer/SharePoint newbie, it might seem like SharePoint is out to get you. For sure it is not clearly evident where anything is. There is no manifest showing all the dependencies, or the bits that were changed or introduced since SharePoint was initially installed and configured. Sure, there are some lovely screens showing solutions deployed to the farm or to a sandbox, and you really want some detail from PowerShell, but there is no reporting information on what the solution...