4 ms·

From the comments: "Why do people have to "leave" technologies? Why can't they just add new technologies to their arsenals without dramatic quitting blog posts?

From the comments: "Why do people have to "leave" technologies? Why can't they just add new technologies to their arsenals without dramatic quitting blog posts? You don't see musicians who have just learned to play the guitar writing "why I'm leaving the piano" posts. Go is great; Node.js is great; some JVM languages are fine; .NET has a hell of a lot going for it too. Evaluate your options at the start of every project and use the best tool for the job at hand."

mrspeaker 11y ago
Did anyone else feel happy wave of nostalgia when reading this title? I haven't seen a "Why I'm leaving X" post for many years!
- jonathanoliver 11y ago
  I wrote this article almost 2 years ago.
khoury 11y ago
That's the more successful way of thinking, if you ask me.
wymy 11y ago
I think it has more to do with fragmentation. While it's great, in theory, to have broad skills in many different languages and technologies, it is difficult to be an expert in any of of them without working with them for a significant amount of time. When I start a new project I'm looking to leverage my expertise in my areas of focus rather than trying to find the perfect technology fit. Without significant knowledge in all options, I may not even be qualified to provide a reasonable evaluation.
manifestsilence 11y ago
That's great for short term projects, but the musician metaphor breaks down in two ways in my experience: 1. A whole team must use a given stack, so it's more akin to trying to get your whole band to switch to amplified so you don't drown them out with your electric guitar. 2. For continuously supported and developed projects, you're in it for the long haul, and rewrites can become a daunting enough task to actually kill a company, so that first choice of software stack for a little project can start to look pretty significant. Who knows which quick and dirty little web app will end up bloating to a million lines of code and running a company for the next twenty years? I guess the music metaphor for this part is forming a punk band and realizing years later you wanted to play Bach, and trying to get your guitarist to switch to violin, etc. Edit: my fun C# anecdote of the morning is I just got to deal with how new TFS branches can end up quietly running your Main branch code due to cruft in your Windows user folder. Thanks, Microsoft! http://stackoverflow.com/questions/15818364/vs-2012-launching-app-based-on-wrong-path http://stackoverflow.com/questions/15818364/vs-2012-launchin...
mcintyre1994 11y ago
Amusingly, in his "Why I love Go" [0] linked from that article he discusses using the right tool for the job: > Instead, this about the right tool for the job. (Could you imagine woodworkers getting into heated arguments about whether a screwdriver or hammer was better?) That would be about as insane as a woodworker writing a blog post about 'leaving the screwdriver' :) [0] http://blog.jonathanoliver.com/why-i-love-go/ http://blog.jonathanoliver.com/why-i-love-go/
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- jonathanoliver 11y ago
  OP here. Most of my work is server-side APIs where Go fits very, very well.
- Retra 11y ago
  You do realize that computer programs and languages are not screwdrivers and hammers, right? We're talking about a world where screwdrivers and hammers both claim to allow you to efficiently drive nails and screw screws. It is very possible for one to be strictly better than the other, and not even unlikely that one is better in most common situations. I know "the right tool for the job" is some sort of unchallengeable divine hacker slogan, but I've never seen that slogan solve a problem. So maybe it isn't the right tool for this job.
scottu 11y ago
I agree about building on skills. I do wonder though if teams with a choice pick C# or is the use of C# dictated just because the enterprise is bought into the MS ecosystem? I bet most probably leave C# just because they leave the company that is bought in, not because they no longer like it. You code where the money is.

mrspeaker 11y ago

Did anyone else feel happy wave of nostalgia when reading this title? I haven't seen a "Why I'm leaving X" post for many years!

jonathanoliver 11y ago
I wrote this article almost 2 years ago.

khoury 11y ago

That's the more successful way of thinking, if you ask me.

wymy 11y ago

I think it has more to do with fragmentation. While it's great, in theory, to have broad skills in many different languages and technologies, it is difficult to be an expert in any of of them without working with them for a significant amount of time. When I start a new project I'm looking to leverage my expertise in my areas of focus rather than trying to find the perfect technology fit. Without significant knowledge in all options, I may not even be qualified to provide a reasonable evaluation.

manifestsilence 11y ago

That's great for short term projects, but the musician metaphor breaks down in two ways in my experience: 1. A whole team must use a given stack, so it's more akin to trying to get your whole band to switch to amplified so you don't drown them out with your electric guitar. 2. For continuously supported and developed projects, you're in it for the long haul, and rewrites can become a daunting enough task to actually kill a company, so that first choice of software stack for a little project can start to look pretty significant. Who knows which quick and dirty little web app will end up bloating to a million lines of code and running a company for the next twenty years? I guess the music metaphor for this part is forming a punk band and realizing years later you wanted to play Bach, and trying to get your guitarist to switch to violin, etc. Edit: my fun C# anecdote of the morning is I just got to deal with how new TFS branches can end up quietly running your Main branch code due to cruft in your Windows user folder. Thanks, Microsoft! http://stackoverflow.com/questions/15818364/vs-2012-launching-app-based-on-wrong-path http://stackoverflow.com/questions/15818364/vs-2012-launchin...

mcintyre1994 11y ago

Amusingly, in his "Why I love Go" [0] linked from that article he discusses using the right tool for the job: > Instead, this about the right tool for the job. (Could you imagine woodworkers getting into heated arguments about whether a screwdriver or hammer was better?) That would be about as insane as a woodworker writing a blog post about 'leaving the screwdriver' :) [0] http://blog.jonathanoliver.com/why-i-love-go/ http://blog.jonathanoliver.com/why-i-love-go/

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
jonathanoliver 11y ago
OP here. Most of my work is server-side APIs where Go fits very, very well.
Retra 11y ago
You do realize that computer programs and languages are not screwdrivers and hammers, right? We're talking about a world where screwdrivers and hammers both claim to allow you to efficiently drive nails and screw screws. It is very possible for one to be strictly better than the other, and not even unlikely that one is better in most common situations. I know "the right tool for the job" is some sort of unchallengeable divine hacker slogan, but I've never seen that slogan solve a problem. So maybe it isn't the right tool for this job.

scottu 11y ago

I agree about building on skills. I do wonder though if teams with a choice pick C# or is the use of C# dictated just because the enterprise is bought into the MS ecosystem? I bet most probably leave C# just because they leave the company that is bought in, not because they no longer like it. You code where the money is.