Richard Bair writes about why having your own implementation of whatever application or API can be sometimes beneficial even though existing implementations exist.
My take on this: disregarding all technical, logistical and/or legal aspects, reinventing the wheel is not really bad at all. It is just a matter of following your own ideas. It is just a matter of decision. If you think, having your own makes sense, go ahead, do it! The "not invented here" syndrome is prevalent in open source. But hey, it is open source. You are free to do whatever you want as long as you return it to the community.
Hmmm... ok, I'll go and make my own J2EE container... Huh! only if I can.
richard@work
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I believe re-use is the correct decision the majority of the time. Development costs can typically be reduced as well as reducing the cost of support. Of course, situations arise where that doesn't hold true; it's not a question that a blanket answer can satisfy.
You may be interested in this 'Joel on Software' essay: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000007.html
Post a Comment