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Choose Boring Technology

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Re: Choose Boring Technology

#41

Post by nickjj »

neilwilson wrote: post #5

There's a longer term issue that appears to be missing here. At what point do you change? There must be a point otherwise we'd all be here writing COBOL/CICS with some whizzy Javascript interface library. Over time it becomes harder and harder and more and more expensive to maintain old technology. Because frankly maintaining old technology is pretty boring and career destroying so you need to be paid more and more t…

For me, change happens when I see a real improvement in almost every way possible which is usually determined by building a few things and letting my brain simmer on the technology as a whole so I can look at it with a logical and unbiased perspective.

I remember looking at Node when it first came out and got mildly excited, but that excitement quickly went away after writing a couple of small apps with it. It just wasn't for me. The same thing happened with Go. I didn't see enough wins to switch over to using either of them for building web apps.

On the other hand, for me Rails and Flask stood the test of time. Nowadays I'm working with Phoenix and I'm past the hype phase and it looks to be another winner. But in all 3 cases (Rails, Flask, Phoenix) I typically don't switch away from them for good. They just become another tool that I know. Of course I will gravitate towards the one I'm the most happy writing code with, but it's not a black / white progression from 1 to the other.

I don't think there's really a definitive answer on when to change. Like 3 weeks ago I picked up a Flask contract and it was a pleasant experience, even though I'm using Phoenix to build a side project currently. You don't always need to throw the old thing out. You can use multiple technologies in harmony. You change when you start dreading writing code in the old thing, which is very user specific. In other words, write more code and you'll quickly find out what you like and dislike.

Re: Choose Boring Technology

#42

Post by matwood »

murgindrag wrote: post #26
reallydontask wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I spoke once with a Microsoft consultant, he was advising us on upgrading strategy, as our customer had a mandate to be at least on version N-1, that is the customer must be on the latest major version or the version before, so at the time we were migrating off Windows 2003 as Windows 2012 was going through internal validation. He mentioned that on a bank he'd been advising, the mandate was the opposite, namely at mo…

In personal life, I do the something similar, actually. I have a state-of-the-art digital camera circa 2012, a state-of-the-art camcorder circa 2011, and similar. I'm always around five years behind the tech curve. The cost is often 1/2 to 1/10th, and I'm not sure I lose anything by being five years behind in terms of happiness or much of anything else. As with anything, there are exceptions. My phone needs security…

> I have a state-of-the-art digital camera circa 2012

This is a good strategy for anything with a high/quick depreciation curve. My DSLR body is pretty old now, but still works great (a D7100). The tech in bodies changes quickly so even waiting just a short period of time can save significant money. Spend money on lenses instead which hold their value and typically can be used across many bodies.

Cars are similar. My truck is a 2011, and I have no plans to buy a new used one anytime soon.

Re: Choose Boring Technology

#43

Post by Erlich_Bachman »

crispyambulance wrote: post #37
dm3 wrote: post #3

Another case of someone discovering, after 10+ years in tech, that code is a liability and you're supposed to solve problems instead of chasing trends and padding the resume. Great that he's spreading the word!

Code is not "a liability". It is a tool that can be used masterfully or utterly abused. Every craftsman has to invest in their tools. And for someone to truly master their craft they must sometimes hone their tool skills speculatively, without short-term gain, and by sacrificing the time and attention used for other things, like actual projects. If everyone just obeyed their project manager and always focused 100% on…

In the real world with limited resources, limited skills, limited budgets and limited brain power, yes code is a liability. Not only a liability, but a liability among other things.

Re: Choose Boring Technology

#44

Post by sametmax »

openfuture wrote: post #9
neilwilson wrote: post #5

There's a longer term issue that appears to be missing here. At what point do you change? There must be a point otherwise we'd all be here writing COBOL/CICS with some whizzy Javascript interface library. Over time it becomes harder and harder and more and more expensive to maintain old technology. Because frankly maintaining old technology is pretty boring and career destroying so you need to be paid more and more t…

You never change, at some point a competitor arises that chose different technology and it kills you.

Competitors don't kill you because they chose a new tech. They kill you because they can either:

- solve a new problem

- solve an existing problem better

- solve an existing problem cheaper

A new tech MAY allow that, and it MAY be used successfully toward that objective, but even in that case, that's hardly the core of it for most cases. Not saying it does not happen, but there are much more at play.

Re: Choose Boring Technology

#46

Post by malvosenior »

nickjj wrote: post #41
neilwilson wrote: post #5

There's a longer term issue that appears to be missing here. At what point do you change? There must be a point otherwise we'd all be here writing COBOL/CICS with some whizzy Javascript interface library. Over time it becomes harder and harder and more and more expensive to maintain old technology. Because frankly maintaining old technology is pretty boring and career destroying so you need to be paid more and more t…

For me, change happens when I see a real improvement in almost every way possible which is usually determined by building a few things and letting my brain simmer on the technology as a whole so I can look at it with a logical and unbiased perspective. I remember looking at Node when it first came out and got mildly excited, but that excitement quickly went away after writing a couple of small apps with it. It just w…

Go is a compiled language and Ruby/Python are interpreted scripting languages. There are domains where it's a much more appropriate choice (distributing binaries, performance sensitive code). The type system is also quite nice vs. dynamic typing (in most situations). It's weird to see people comparing Go and Python in this thread as they solve entirely different problems and shouldn't be interchangeable, not due to developer preference but due to fundamental features of the language.

Re: Choose Boring Technology

#47

Post by Crinus »

jasode wrote: post #17

As a meta observation, I noticed this was submitted by user luu and his website also has a blog post with a similar theme ("boring languages"[1]). Therefore, I wonder if the "boring vs exciting" advice somewhat depends on the personality. I.e. if person has a tendency to prefer conservative technology, it means external advice that advocates "boring tech" will resonate with that person. I think choosing boring techno…

> For example, in 1974 when the new Altair 8800 made the cover of Popular Electronics[2], an excited Paul Allen showed the magazine to a 19-year old Bill Gates. The "boring tech" advocates would tell them they're wasting their time with the "new fad of microcomputers" and they should look at boring IBM 360 mainframes instead.

I remember reading a book around the late 90s (the book was written in the early 90s) about Microsoft's history and that is exactly the sentiment that computer people had towards microcomputers at the time.

Re: Choose Boring Technology

#48

Post by irq11 »

crispyambulance wrote: post #37
dm3 wrote: post #3

Another case of someone discovering, after 10+ years in tech, that code is a liability and you're supposed to solve problems instead of chasing trends and padding the resume. Great that he's spreading the word!

Code is not "a liability". It is a tool that can be used masterfully or utterly abused. Every craftsman has to invest in their tools. And for someone to truly master their craft they must sometimes hone their tool skills speculatively, without short-term gain, and by sacrificing the time and attention used for other things, like actual projects. If everyone just obeyed their project manager and always focused 100% on…

If you want to spend time learning new tools, that’s fine. Don’t do it during a critical project. Don’t make your learning projects a liability for your colleagues.

Craftsmen are experts at applying a limited set of tools. That’s why they’re craftsmen. You hire them because they’re the best at doing the thing you hire them to do.

Re: Choose Boring Technology

#49

Post by RivieraKid »

crispyambulance wrote: post #37
dm3 wrote: post #3

Another case of someone discovering, after 10+ years in tech, that code is a liability and you're supposed to solve problems instead of chasing trends and padding the resume. Great that he's spreading the word!

Code is not "a liability". It is a tool that can be used masterfully or utterly abused. Every craftsman has to invest in their tools. And for someone to truly master their craft they must sometimes hone their tool skills speculatively, without short-term gain, and by sacrificing the time and attention used for other things, like actual projects. If everyone just obeyed their project manager and always focused 100% on…

Exactly, if it was a liability, you would simply delete it, because unlike real liabilities, it's legal.

Re: Choose Boring Technology

#50

Post by diroussel »

amelius wrote: post #18
endymi0n wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." ― George Santayana "I've got news for Mr. Santayana: we're doomed to repeat the past no matter what. That's what it is to be alive." ― Kurt Vonnegut

There's even an expression for it: reinventing the wheel.

The funny thing about that expression is that wheels have never been reinvented. As far as we know. The Summarians had them, and the technology spread through contract with other civilizations. But not as far as we know re-invented anywhere else.
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