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I think what it comes down to is the way these libraries are used. In my experience, the trend of software development over time is division of labor into spec

I think what it comes down to is the way these libraries are used. In my experience, the trend of software development over time is division of labor into specializations for hard engineering problems, while creating paved roads and happy paths for good generalists. I use the term "generalist" charitably here, whereas the author's description feels (to me) to be a little disparaging. To your point, I think it's good we have this trend in software development. Having all these libraries is a net good which saves time and results in fewer footguns. I believe the problem she is describing is more productively considered by looking at it as a problem of using a vendored library in a way that it isn't designed to be used (i.e. "driving off the paved road"). There are often good reasons to drive off the paved road, but you need to really understand your problem and the solution space to pull it off competently. I think the author's experience is therefore caused by two things: 1. Businesses which are not at Google and Facebook scale, and thus can't afford to build much in-house from scratch. 2. People who try to duct tape APIs together without a strong understanding of the underlying limitations of each library, and the design boundaries of each.

ilonski 6y ago
As one of the generalists, I'd like to add to this comment. I see two kinds of problems: open and closed. Closed problems are sort of "traditional" engineering problems. They're math heavy, they have a precise, indisputably correct answer, and they probably require some kind of algorithm to solve. These are very challenging and interesting problems to dive into, and I certainly have some interest in them, but they are not my primary interest. I like to use software to solve business problems, which sometimes involve a closed element but more typically are open. They involve human beings and have fuzzy definitions of correctness. I like understanding my users and the weird little worlds they inhabit and how I can make their day a little better. To do that, I need the sorts of tools that the closed problem engineers provide. Now you can absolutely be a great open AND closed problem engineer. I'm studying some more math and algorithms to try to improve at that. I'm also willing to dive in and debug some complex messy library code when I need to, and I do agree it's my job to evaluate the maturity and reliability of a library before I add it as a dependency. All that said, I take issue with the notion that I'm not a good engineer if I choose to outsource some of my problems—especially these closed problems that require a lot of work and experience and attention. Software is not special. In business, every decision involves tradeoffs and opportunity costs. It's completely unhelpful to take potshots at engineers making a conscious choice not to tackle some problem when they can have it solved by someone else. All of that said, you're obviously correct that some people just paste together unstable things they have put forth zero effort to evaluate, and that's a problem.

ilonski 6y ago

As one of the generalists, I'd like to add to this comment. I see two kinds of problems: open and closed. Closed problems are sort of "traditional" engineering problems. They're math heavy, they have a precise, indisputably correct answer, and they probably require some kind of algorithm to solve. These are very challenging and interesting problems to dive into, and I certainly have some interest in them, but they are not my primary interest. I like to use software to solve business problems, which sometimes involve a closed element but more typically are open. They involve human beings and have fuzzy definitions of correctness. I like understanding my users and the weird little worlds they inhabit and how I can make their day a little better. To do that, I need the sorts of tools that the closed problem engineers provide. Now you can absolutely be a great open AND closed problem engineer. I'm studying some more math and algorithms to try to improve at that. I'm also willing to dive in and debug some complex messy library code when I need to, and I do agree it's my job to evaluate the maturity and reliability of a library before I add it as a dependency. All that said, I take issue with the notion that I'm not a good engineer if I choose to outsource some of my problems—especially these closed problems that require a lot of work and experience and attention. Software is not special. In business, every decision involves tradeoffs and opportunity costs. It's completely unhelpful to take potshots at engineers making a conscious choice not to tackle some problem when they can have it solved by someone else. All of that said, you're obviously correct that some people just paste together unstable things they have put forth zero effort to evaluate, and that's a problem.