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Generally, that less code means relying on someone else's code which depending on the circumstance could be a bigger liability.
by anfilt 5y ago
Generally, that less code means relying on someone else's code which depending on the circumstance could be a bigger liability.
- collyw 5y agoUsing well tested libraries is likely more reliable than something I have written myself. Though in my personal experience Python (or Perl) libraries seem to be far higher quality than JavaScript libraries.
- gorjusborg 5y agoI used to feel this way, strongly. Now I think about whether the downsides of relying on third party dependencies are outweighed by the upsides. Supply chain attacks are real. Project maintenance suffers for many projects in the long term. If you can write a left-pad function, just write left-pad. If you are implementing a 200 page open spec for a system that needs to interoperate with 100s of other systems, consider looking for a community effort to rely on and contribute to.
- collyw 5y agoYes, I am pretty much in agreement with you there. It's a balance, and as you say smaller things may well be better without a library, but larger things maybe not. And there are going to be exceptions to this rule of thumb.