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https://imgur.com/dP2c3j6 https://imgur.com/dP2c3j6 Re-inventing the wheel is not the problem. It's copying the wheel that is the problem.

sham1 3y ago
As years have gone by, I've realised that the whole "don't reinvent the wheel" is fundamentally an anti-innovation and anti-intellectualist idiom. Like yeah, the idea is that the wheel already works pretty well, so you wouldn't need a better one, but really now? First of all, how would we know that we've explored all the possible ways wheels can be? How do we know whether what we have is actually the most optimal way that wheels can exist? You won't know unless you try! You might fail, but I'd say that the learning opportunity is worth it. Also, when it comes to people who criticise projects like Ladybird here for "reinventing the wheel", I feel that comparing software to wheels is a bit disingenuous. Because while manufacturing wheels does take skillful craftsmanship and such, most software is probably just a tad more complex than just the wheel. Call it a hunch. So, the ethos that one shouldn't "waste effort in writing this stuff from scratch, but that off-the-shelf components should be used" is the kind of ethos that can be applied to a lot of things. And usually when that kind of ethos is adopted, it tends to lead to stuff like stagnation and lack of innovation. And we know this, because we have examples of entire countries doing this, which has usually lead to either reforming away from this sort of model, or the country just not existing anymore. We should not let the web for example stagnate due to browser monoculture. We should have alternative implementations of stuff, actually.
- autoexec 3y ago
  > So, the ethos that one shouldn't "waste effort in writing this stuff from scratch, but that off-the-shelf components should be used" is the kind of ethos that can be applied to a lot of things. And usually when that kind of ethos is adopted, it tends to lead to stuff like stagnation and lack of innovation. I think the advice still has its place, but only in certain contexts. You can get a lot of work done very quickly by making good use of work that others have already done for you. It's why modules and libraries are so popular. When you've got the time to try and and improve on existing code, or when you'd have to compromise too much on what you want by using something preexisting, or when you're just learning then reinventing the wheel is invaluable. There's a time and place for both.
- bowsamic 3y ago
  I agree, imagine a carpenter who is told "don't bother making tables, you can buy them from the shop". We tell software devs this all the time. The javascript ecosystem was the perfect example of this, it professed an ideology that most devs should only write glue code between libraries, and only the arrogant devs we can't stop and/or FAANG are writing the libraries.

sham1 3y ago

As years have gone by, I've realised that the whole "don't reinvent the wheel" is fundamentally an anti-innovation and anti-intellectualist idiom. Like yeah, the idea is that the wheel already works pretty well, so you wouldn't need a better one, but really now? First of all, how would we know that we've explored all the possible ways wheels can be? How do we know whether what we have is actually the most optimal way that wheels can exist? You won't know unless you try! You might fail, but I'd say that the learning opportunity is worth it. Also, when it comes to people who criticise projects like Ladybird here for "reinventing the wheel", I feel that comparing software to wheels is a bit disingenuous. Because while manufacturing wheels does take skillful craftsmanship and such, most software is probably just a tad more complex than just the wheel. Call it a hunch. So, the ethos that one shouldn't "waste effort in writing this stuff from scratch, but that off-the-shelf components should be used" is the kind of ethos that can be applied to a lot of things. And usually when that kind of ethos is adopted, it tends to lead to stuff like stagnation and lack of innovation. And we know this, because we have examples of entire countries doing this, which has usually lead to either reforming away from this sort of model, or the country just not existing anymore. We should not let the web for example stagnate due to browser monoculture. We should have alternative implementations of stuff, actually.

autoexec 3y ago
> So, the ethos that one shouldn't "waste effort in writing this stuff from scratch, but that off-the-shelf components should be used" is the kind of ethos that can be applied to a lot of things. And usually when that kind of ethos is adopted, it tends to lead to stuff like stagnation and lack of innovation. I think the advice still has its place, but only in certain contexts. You can get a lot of work done very quickly by making good use of work that others have already done for you. It's why modules and libraries are so popular. When you've got the time to try and and improve on existing code, or when you'd have to compromise too much on what you want by using something preexisting, or when you're just learning then reinventing the wheel is invaluable. There's a time and place for both.
bowsamic 3y ago
I agree, imagine a carpenter who is told "don't bother making tables, you can buy them from the shop". We tell software devs this all the time. The javascript ecosystem was the perfect example of this, it professed an ideology that most devs should only write glue code between libraries, and only the arrogant devs we can't stop and/or FAANG are writing the libraries.