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Why do you think there's some algorithm you should run that will, in some determinate sense, tell you how to behave here? The comment you're replying to was po

Why do you think there's some algorithm you should run that will, in some determinate sense, tell you how to behave here? The comment you're replying to was poking fun at you for assuming there would be some objective set of criteria, when in reality there isn't anything of the sort. There are a lot of heuristics I use when picking out a 3rd party library, but I'm an engineer and these heuristics are practical, so I doubt you'll enjoy thinking in those terms, if your prior comments are any indication of what you're looking for here.

WJW 5y ago
As a fellow engineer, I would indeed like actual reasons for why to pick one library over another. Even if that reason is as simple as "profiling shows we spend 99% of a request in this single library". Falling back to experience, heuristics and "just use your brain" can work in some circumstances (and with sufficiently experienced developers), but it is not how an engineering discipline matures.
- TameAntelope 5y ago
  ...do you seriously not know how to evaluate 3rd party libraries? I can help you if you want, but honestly if this is a challenge for you, I'd be worried about whether or not this is the right career for you. Engineers get shit done, first and foremost. If that's not your primary concern, you're going to spend a lot of time frustrated by your bosses priorities and confused about why your peers value things you don't.
  - WJW 5y ago
    This goes back to the discussion we had on https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29998868 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29998868, about whether sofware developers are really engineers or not. If you think "getting shit done" is the only or even the primary concern for an engineer, I think it is best if you stay in software (and please far away from any safety critical code).
    - TameAntelope 5y ago
      I will not hire anyone to my software teams who thinks their job is to create art for its own sake. If you can’t tie your work back to creating value, you have no place on my teams, and that includes wasting time rebuilding worse versions of libraries that already exist.
      - WJW 5y ago
        It's pretty sure that I wouldn't want to hire someone as argumentative as you either, but I don't see how we went from "Don't think about how a library works - until you have to" (which I still think is hilariously circular and not very useful) to accusing each other of rebuilding worse versions of libraries just because. In fact, a few comments up we touched on having actual facts as the basis for decisions so how you interpreted that as "art for it's own sake" is a mystery to me. In any case, have a good evening good sir and all the best in your software engineering endeavors.
        TameAntelope 5y ago
        Heh, if you think this is argumentative, you probably wouldn't fit on any healthy software team that actually tries to work together.
        ameliaquining 5y ago
        I work on a healthy software team that successfully works together and it's nowhere near this acrimonious.
        TameAntelope 5y ago
        What's interesting about this comment is that more or less entirely disproves itself.
        ameliaquining 5y ago

WJW 5y ago

As a fellow engineer, I would indeed like actual reasons for why to pick one library over another. Even if that reason is as simple as "profiling shows we spend 99% of a request in this single library". Falling back to experience, heuristics and "just use your brain" can work in some circumstances (and with sufficiently experienced developers), but it is not how an engineering discipline matures.

TameAntelope 5y ago
...do you seriously not know how to evaluate 3rd party libraries? I can help you if you want, but honestly if this is a challenge for you, I'd be worried about whether or not this is the right career for you. Engineers get shit done, first and foremost. If that's not your primary concern, you're going to spend a lot of time frustrated by your bosses priorities and confused about why your peers value things you don't.
- WJW 5y ago
  This goes back to the discussion we had on https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29998868 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29998868, about whether sofware developers are really engineers or not. If you think "getting shit done" is the only or even the primary concern for an engineer, I think it is best if you stay in software (and please far away from any safety critical code).
  - TameAntelope 5y ago
    I will not hire anyone to my software teams who thinks their job is to create art for its own sake. If you can’t tie your work back to creating value, you have no place on my teams, and that includes wasting time rebuilding worse versions of libraries that already exist.
    - WJW 5y ago
      It's pretty sure that I wouldn't want to hire someone as argumentative as you either, but I don't see how we went from "Don't think about how a library works - until you have to" (which I still think is hilariously circular and not very useful) to accusing each other of rebuilding worse versions of libraries just because. In fact, a few comments up we touched on having actual facts as the basis for decisions so how you interpreted that as "art for it's own sake" is a mystery to me. In any case, have a good evening good sir and all the best in your software engineering endeavors.
      - TameAntelope 5y ago
        Heh, if you think this is argumentative, you probably wouldn't fit on any healthy software team that actually tries to work together.
        ameliaquining 5y ago
        I work on a healthy software team that successfully works together and it's nowhere near this acrimonious.
        TameAntelope 5y ago
        What's interesting about this comment is that more or less entirely disproves itself.
        ameliaquining 5y ago