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I think most commenters misread 'from scratch'. The author is talking about ideas not about code. So even developers who can build things from scratch use fram

by huuu 11y ago

I think most commenters misread 'from scratch'. The author is talking about ideas not about code. So even developers who can build things from scratch use frameworks when needed.

Aaronontheweb 11y ago
Author here - yep, that's exactly right. Didn't occur to me people would read it that way (whoops!) - I meant implementing ideas from scratch. This was inspired by a lecture I gave to some entrepreneurs on Friday (I put a link to the slides in the post) - these folks are people with business / design backgrounds who are trying to figure out how to realize some idea they've been working on. It was part of a larger course they were in - my role was just to give them the CTO / technical co-founder's perspective on what to look for in building their early tech team, picking a technology stack, etc... I ended up really having an intense discussion with them on "finding the developer to implement an idea from nothing" and tried to capture that in the blog post.
- kephra 11y ago
  I think most people first think about developers who can not build from scratch. Those who require frameworks, and can only fill the gaps. So one trait a from scratch developer must show, is being a toolsmith. Most startups do not have the time to build everything from scratch. Instead they have to pick tools to solve their problem. A toolsmith can quickly validate if a tool is suited for the task, and is able to create new tools if necessary. So there are few things one can check before hiring a developer: A toolsmith published his tools, frameworks or libraries. A bughunter contributed to 3rd party projects. ... Or in short: A developer who did things from scratch, will be proud showing them. An this will show where his strong and weak points are. ( e.g. my weak point is design )
zkhalique 11y ago
We built our own framework :)
snake117 11y ago
It was kind of funny because I thought at first that's what he was taking about, but then his message clicked and I agree. No developer should rely on one tool for the job; you have to be open-minded, try out new things, and explore new solutions. Taking this approach in the beginning is rather daunting, but definitely pays off in the long run when you have the ability to tackle problems from multiple angles.

by huuu 11y ago

I think most commenters misread 'from scratch'. The author is talking about ideas not about code. So even developers who can build things from scratch use frameworks when needed.

Aaronontheweb 11y ago

Author here - yep, that's exactly right. Didn't occur to me people would read it that way (whoops!) - I meant implementing ideas from scratch. This was inspired by a lecture I gave to some entrepreneurs on Friday (I put a link to the slides in the post) - these folks are people with business / design backgrounds who are trying to figure out how to realize some idea they've been working on. It was part of a larger course they were in - my role was just to give them the CTO / technical co-founder's perspective on what to look for in building their early tech team, picking a technology stack, etc... I ended up really having an intense discussion with them on "finding the developer to implement an idea from nothing" and tried to capture that in the blog post.

kephra 11y ago
I think most people first think about developers who can not build from scratch. Those who require frameworks, and can only fill the gaps. So one trait a from scratch developer must show, is being a toolsmith. Most startups do not have the time to build everything from scratch. Instead they have to pick tools to solve their problem. A toolsmith can quickly validate if a tool is suited for the task, and is able to create new tools if necessary. So there are few things one can check before hiring a developer: A toolsmith published his tools, frameworks or libraries. A bughunter contributed to 3rd party projects. ... Or in short: A developer who did things from scratch, will be proud showing them. An this will show where his strong and weak points are. ( e.g. my weak point is design )

zkhalique 11y ago

We built our own framework :)

snake117 11y ago

It was kind of funny because I thought at first that's what he was taking about, but then his message clicked and I agree. No developer should rely on one tool for the job; you have to be open-minded, try out new things, and explore new solutions. Taking this approach in the beginning is rather daunting, but definitely pays off in the long run when you have the ability to tackle problems from multiple angles.