{"rowid": 208, "title": "All That Glisters", "contents": "Tradition has it that at this time of year, families gather together, sit, eat and share stories. It\u2019s an opportunity for the wisdom of the elders to be passed down to the younger members of the tribe. Tradition also has it that we should chase cheese downhill and dunk the nice lady to prove she\u2019s a witch, so maybe let\u2019s not put too much stock in that.\nI\u2019ve been building things on the web professionally for about twenty years, and although the web has changed immeasurably, it\u2019s probably not changed as much as I have. While I can happily say I\u2019m not the young (always right, always arrogant) developer that I once was, unfortunately I\u2019m now an approaching-middle-age developer who thinks he\u2019s always right and on top of it is extremely pompous. What can you do? Nature has devised this system with the distinct advantage of allowing us to always be right, and only ever wrong in the future or in the past. So let\u2019s roll with it.\nIncreasingly, there seems to be a sense of fatigue within our industry. Just when you think you\u2019ve got a handle on whatever the latest tool or technology is, something new comes out to replace it. Suddenly you find that you\u2019ve invested precious time learning something new and it\u2019s already old hat. The pace of change is so rapid, that new developers don\u2019t know where to start, and experienced developers don\u2019t know where it ends. With that in mind, here\u2019s some fireside thoughts from a pompous old developer, that I hope might bring some Christmas comfort.\nReliable and boring beats shiny and new\nThere are so many new tools, frameworks, techniques, styles and libraries to learn. You know what? You don\u2019t have to use them. You\u2019re not a bad developer if you use Grunt even though others have switched to Gulp or Brunch or Webpack or Banana Sandwich. It\u2019s probably misguided to spend lots of project time messing around with build tool fashions when your so last year build tool is already doing what you need.\nJust a little reminder that it\u2019s about 100 times more important what you build than how you build it.\u2014 Chris Coyier (@chriscoyier) December 10, 2017\n\nI think it helps if we understand why so many new solutions exist. Most developers are predisposed to enjoy creating new things more than improving established systems. It\u2019s natural, because it\u2019s actually much easier and more exciting to create something new that works exactly how you think it should be than to improve an existing, imperfect solution. Improving and refactoring a system is hard, and it takes real chops, much more than just building something new.\nThe consequence of this is that new tools appear all the time. A developer will get a fresh new idea of how to tackle a problem \u2013 usually out of dissatisfaction with an existing solution, and figure the best way to implement that idea is to build something new around it. Often, that something new will do the same job as something old that already exists; it will just do it in a different way. Sometimes in a better way. Sometimes, just different.\nxkcd: Standards\nThat\u2019s not to say new tools are bad, and it\u2019s not bad that they exist. We shouldn\u2019t be crushing new ideas, and it\u2019s not wrong to adopt a new solution over an old one, but you know what? There\u2019s no imperative to switch right away. The next time you hit a pain point with your current solution, or have time to re-evaluate, check out what\u2019s new and see how the latest generation of tools and technologies can help. There\u2019s no prize for solving problems you don\u2019t have yet, and heading further into the desert in search of water is a survival tactic, not an aspiration.\nNew is better, but also worse\nSoftware, much like people, is born with a whole lot of potential and not much utility. Newborns \u2014 both digital and meaty \u2014 are exciting and cute but they also lead to sleepless nights and pools of vomit.\nNew technology contains lots of useful new features, but it\u2019s also more likely to contain bugs and be subject to more rapid change. Jumping on a new framework is great, right until there are API changes and you need to refactor your entire project to be able to update. More mature solutions have a higher weight of existing projects on their shoulders, and so the need to maintain backward compatibility is stronger. Things still move forward, but in a more controlled way.\nSo how do we balance the need to move technology forward with the need to provide mature and stable solutions for the projects we work on? I think there\u2019s a couple of good ways to do that.\nGet personal\nUse all the new shiny tools on your side-projects, personal projects, seasonal throw-aways and anywhere where the stakes are low. If you know you can patch around problems without much consequence, go for it. Build your personal blog on a CMS that stores data in the woven bark of a silver birch. Find where it breaks. Find where it excels. Find yourself if you like. When it comes to high-stakes projects, you\u2019ll hopefully have enough experience to know what you\u2019re getting into.\nFocus on the unique problem\nThat\u2019s not to say you should never risk using a new technology for \u2018real\u2019 work. Instead, distinguish the areas of your project where a new technology solves a specifically identified, measurable business objective, verses those where it won\u2019t. \nA brand new web application framework might be fun to use, but are you in the business of solving a web application framework problem?  That new web server made of taffeta might increase static file throughput slightly, but are you in the business of serving static assets, or would it be better to just run up nginx and never have to think about that problem again. (Clue: it\u2019s the nginx one.)\nBut when it comes to building that live sports interface for keeping fans up to date with the blow-by-blow of the big game, that\u2019s where it might make sense to take a risk on an amazing-looking new JavaScript realtime interface framework. That\u2019s the time to run up a breakthrough new message queue server that can deliver jobs to workers via extrasensory perception and keep the score updates flowing instantaneously. \nThose are the risks worth taking, as those new technologies have the potential to help you solve your core problems in a markedly improved way. Unproven technology is worth the risk if it solves a specific business objective. If it doesn\u2019t, don\u2019t make work for yourself - use something mature and stable.\nPick the right tools\nOur job as developers is to solve problems using code, and do so in an effective and responsible way. You\u2019ve been hired to use your expertise in picking the right tools for the job, and a big part of that is weighing up the risk verse the reward of each part of the system. The best tools for the job might be something cutting edge, but \u2018best\u2019 can also mean most stable, reliable or easy-to-hire-for.\nGo out and learn (and create!) new tools and experiment with them. Understand what problems they solve and what the pitfalls are. Use them in production for low-stakes projects to get real experience, and then once you really know their character, then think about using them when the stakes are higher.\nThe rest of the time? The tools you\u2019re using now are solid and proven and you know their capabilities and pitfalls well. They might not always be the fashionable candidate, but they often make for a very solid choice.", "year": "2017", "author": "Drew McLellan", "author_slug": "drewmclellan", "published": "2017-12-24T00:00:00+00:00", "url": "https://24ways.org/2017/all-that-glisters/", "topic": "business"}