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Why I Hate Frameworks (2005)

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Re: Why I Hate Frameworks (2005)

#71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everyone needs to learn to do calculus by hand before advancing to the calculator. People picking up frameworks without fundamental understanding is a shockingly common fallacy.

Wait, you're saying that calculators now do symbolic differentiation and integration (like sympy and mathematica)? Kids today...

My handheld calculator, a Ti-89, did basic symbolic differentiation (and maybe integration, it's been awhile) in the late 90's.

Re: Why I Hate Frameworks (2005)

#73
post #66

I'm not a huge fan of these pieces that don't speak to why frameworks are created in the first place. The counter point to this is that the purpose of frameworks is to turn O(N) problems into O(k) problems by implementing a seam in the code. The problem a framework ultimately solves is that some teams will choose to use screws, some will use a hammer and nails, some will use a nail gun, some will use glue, some will…

Related: "Write libraries, not frameworks," which goes more into depth about how frameworks establish precisely such a "seam" and the responsibilities it entails. https://www.brandons.me/blog/libraries-not-frameworks

> Frameworks' key trait is that they impose limitations on the programmer. Rather than providing a set of new things the programmer can do, they establish a boundary on the things the programmer can do.

Simply stated and very insightful.

This is a way better article than the posted one.

Another way of thinking about this is that a framework is a regulating authority on a tragedy of the commons. The commons in the case of software is complexity. Too much complexity becomes impossible to manage and grinds development to a halt.

Re: Why I Hate Frameworks (2005)

#75

I want a version of this satire where they only sell hammer subscriptions, but to get the hammer the guy actually wants he needs to buy an Extended Hand Tools subscription that auto renews and costs as much in three months as buying the original hammer would have.

It's not a hammer subscription, it's hammering-as-a-service. You ship them the nails and wood, they ship you back the nails hammered into the wood. You don't have to worry about the complexity of storing or using a hammer anymore, let alone the difficulty of selecting the right hammer, it all just works. They charge extra to sell you the nails and wood, to avoid the complexity of packing and shipping your nails and w…

They have strict specifications about the types of nails and wood that they can hammer, but they're not documented anywhere. If you send them the wrong type of nails or wood, they'll put them both into an industrial shredder and send you back the dust, because technically the nails have now been integrated with the wood.

Their free plan will let you hammer in 5 nails per month into a single piece of wood, but you can't use a different piece of wood each month. For $30/month you get 50 nails, and up to 5 pieces of wood, or for $60/month you can get 120 nails and unlimited pieces of wood, and two-factor (they'll call you before they hammer in the nails, and ask where you actually want the nails hammered). If you want to have unlimited nails, you have to contact them for enterprise pricing.

They will also sell the measurements of your wood and the nail positions to other carpenters.

Re: Why I Hate Frameworks (2005)

#76

I want a version of this satire where they only sell hammer subscriptions, but to get the hammer the guy actually wants he needs to buy an Extended Hand Tools subscription that auto renews and costs as much in three months as buying the original hammer would have.

Don't forget getting billed for a full year while still losing access if you cancel your subscription.

Re: Why I Hate Frameworks (2005)

#77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everyone needs to learn to do calculus by hand before advancing to the calculator. People picking up frameworks without fundamental understanding is a shockingly common fallacy.

Extremely common, and was one I fell into as a junior dev myself (early 2010's). Some reasons (based on my experience): - University classes were either very low level, or using some new framework to increase your employment prospects - All the experienced devs would hop jobs every few years, leaving less opportunity for mentorship. - Lack of convenient resources for gaining base knowledge. Googling "how to make a to…

> a good engineer has know where to go for the right information

That colleges aren't teaching this as a first-rate topic is a real failure. This is, in my opinion, the most important skill any engineer should have.

Re: Why I Hate Frameworks (2005)

#78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait, you're saying that calculators now do symbolic differentiation and integration (like sympy and mathematica)? Kids today...

My handheld calculator, a Ti-89, did basic symbolic differentiation (and maybe integration, it's been awhile) in the late 90's.

Oh hey, I have a TI-89 Titanium. It can emulate the gameboy advance playing Pokémon Red at 30FPS. :)

Re: Why I Hate Frameworks (2005)

#79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everyone needs to learn to do calculus by hand before advancing to the calculator. People picking up frameworks without fundamental understanding is a shockingly common fallacy.

Wait, you're saying that calculators now do symbolic differentiation and integration (like sympy and mathematica)? Kids today...

The TI-Nspire CAS (computer algebra system) can do very complicated symbolic antidifferentiation, like ones that you'd do by hand with repeated integration-by-parts. It can even solve many kinds of simple ODEs!
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