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It is also not a trivial thing to do efficiently though. I would much rather use a mature library to represent and traverse graphs than to try and implement a g

It is also not a trivial thing to do efficiently though. I would much rather use a mature library to represent and traverse graphs than to try and implement a graph traversal algorithm myself. I do have some knowledge on the subject, which allows me to work with the available libraries, but some things are just too complex to implement from scratch in a timely fashion, I believe.

hex13 10y ago
I agree that sometimes the best solution is to use existing library, but I can't agree that traversing graphs is "too complex to implement from scratch in a timely fashion". This very statement reminds me of famous "why can't programmers program" article: https://blog.codinghorror.com/why-cant-programmers-program/ https://blog.codinghorror.com/why-cant-programmers-program/ Programming needs some technical skill anyway. And learning "how to use library X" often takes more time than learning "how to implement algorithm X". Libraries are often bloated, bugged, hard to debug or have terrible API. In these moments basic programming skill set is very useful.
- computerex 10y ago
  The premise of open source ecosystems such as node is that reusable libs are tested by the whole community. Don't reinvent the wheel. I am not saying you shouldn't learn graphs/CS topics. But you should absolutely utilize the ecosystem.
  - hex13 10y ago
    I think it goes beyond subjective likes/dislikes. I personally like reinventing the wheel, you personally believe in ecosystem, these are just our beliefs. But I think in the long run everything depends on exact project rather on our wishful thinking. I had experiences when use of library was much better solution than own baked one, but I also had experiences where none of the libraries I had found were quite fitted for the project and many times I just had to throw library and write something from scratch in simple way. > reusable libs are tested by the whole community. reusable libs are often FOR the whole community and not for YOUR project. Ofc sometimes you need exactly what rest of community needs, but sometimes not.

hex13 10y ago

I agree that sometimes the best solution is to use existing library, but I can't agree that traversing graphs is "too complex to implement from scratch in a timely fashion". This very statement reminds me of famous "why can't programmers program" article: https://blog.codinghorror.com/why-cant-programmers-program/ https://blog.codinghorror.com/why-cant-programmers-program/ Programming needs some technical skill anyway. And learning "how to use library X" often takes more time than learning "how to implement algorithm X". Libraries are often bloated, bugged, hard to debug or have terrible API. In these moments basic programming skill set is very useful.

computerex 10y ago
The premise of open source ecosystems such as node is that reusable libs are tested by the whole community. Don't reinvent the wheel. I am not saying you shouldn't learn graphs/CS topics. But you should absolutely utilize the ecosystem.
- hex13 10y ago
  I think it goes beyond subjective likes/dislikes. I personally like reinventing the wheel, you personally believe in ecosystem, these are just our beliefs. But I think in the long run everything depends on exact project rather on our wishful thinking. I had experiences when use of library was much better solution than own baked one, but I also had experiences where none of the libraries I had found were quite fitted for the project and many times I just had to throw library and write something from scratch in simple way. > reusable libs are tested by the whole community. reusable libs are often FOR the whole community and not for YOUR project. Ofc sometimes you need exactly what rest of community needs, but sometimes not.