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This is all rather vague. These tools collect dust because software nowadays doesn't only have to be written, it needs to be maintained and adapted. And these e

by slx26 6y ago

This is all rather vague. These tools collect dust because software nowadays doesn't only have to be written, it needs to be maintained and adapted. And these examples weren't because they weren't useful enough. Sure, they worked at their specific task... but none of them was a game changer or enhanced the power of the developer in general. It's not that dev tools are not used, just that most of them are directly written by the programmers that need them, for their own use, without much care for life expectancy or limitations. Just to get that thing done when they need it. I don't really understand much the point of the article. If an idea is good, well executed and presented to its target audience, maybe it won't eat the world, but it will have decent chances to not collect dust.

phone8675309 6y ago
> These tools collect dust because software nowadays doesn't only have to be written, it needs to be maintained and adapted. Everyone loves making and using a new, shiny, "life changing" tool. Very few people would stick around at a job (or indeed, apply for a job) to maintain that tool. Creation is easier compared to understanding and adaptation to change.
dstick 6y ago
Didn’t sound vague to me at all. I learned a few things from the article and I would pay a hefty premium to have that “Whyline” debugger in Phpstorm.
- slx26 6y ago
  The point the article was trying to make, not the tool descriptions. Though to be fair, the point was probably only to showcase some cool ideas to inspire people to consider dev tools more. Maybe I tried to read too deep into it.
- heavenlyblue 6y ago
  “Whyline” debugger is useless if you are trying to understand why your LIVE code ended up in a certain state; unless you are ready to run your live code in a debugger. Finding all places where the variable had changes is on the other hand easy without Whyline.
barefeg 6y ago
In my opinion this article is a cry from people that don’t understand how to find a market fit and then “sell” their idea. I think it’s pretty typical point of view from academics that their idea is ground breaking and should be know by everyone. However, things don’t work like that in the real world. Meritocracy doesn’t make the best tool rise to the top. You also need to solve a problem for a huge amount of people and then do a bunch of PR and educate.

by slx26 6y ago

phone8675309 6y ago

> These tools collect dust because software nowadays doesn't only have to be written, it needs to be maintained and adapted. Everyone loves making and using a new, shiny, "life changing" tool. Very few people would stick around at a job (or indeed, apply for a job) to maintain that tool. Creation is easier compared to understanding and adaptation to change.

dstick 6y ago

Didn’t sound vague to me at all. I learned a few things from the article and I would pay a hefty premium to have that “Whyline” debugger in Phpstorm.

slx26 6y ago
The point the article was trying to make, not the tool descriptions. Though to be fair, the point was probably only to showcase some cool ideas to inspire people to consider dev tools more. Maybe I tried to read too deep into it.
heavenlyblue 6y ago
“Whyline” debugger is useless if you are trying to understand why your LIVE code ended up in a certain state; unless you are ready to run your live code in a debugger. Finding all places where the variable had changes is on the other hand easy without Whyline.

barefeg 6y ago

In my opinion this article is a cry from people that don’t understand how to find a market fit and then “sell” their idea. I think it’s pretty typical point of view from academics that their idea is ground breaking and should be know by everyone. However, things don’t work like that in the real world. Meritocracy doesn’t make the best tool rise to the top. You also need to solve a problem for a huge amount of people and then do a bunch of PR and educate.