This might sound a bit esoteric, but it works for me every time: First of all, it's a feeling. Tech A feels more 'right', or resonates better, than tech B (where both are in the same category).
Of course this is not the only metric. I'll look at longevity prospects of the tech, how much it breaks with 'tradition' and I'll try to focus on the negatives people have about the tech. But if more than one solution presents itself and I'm at an impasse - feeling wins.
I also acknowledge that one day, I might wake up to a stinking pile of tech-crap, but even then at least I know that at the time it felt right.
For example, many years ago, in a decade far far away (The 90s), I went with ColdFusion as a tech stack. Back then it was that, Perl or maybe TCL. ColdFusion felt right because it allowed very rapid prototyping with a clear syntax and batteries included. There was nothing like it. Fast forward a few years later and that tech was so smelly it made everyone nauseous but I knew at the time it made perfect sense, and by then other options presented themselves.
I had the same experience with XLST back in the day. At the time it was the perfect tool for my needs -- I no longer had to wheedle the back-end guys into giving me the specific data I needed, they could just dump it all on me in a big wad of XML and I could do anything I needed to it.
I mean, the whole time I knew it was a doomed language, far too philosophically pure to be practical, and the signs that XML was a mass hysteria were there from the beginning -- but it was exactly the tool I needed at the time I needed it.
I call it “does it speak to me?”, which I realize is a totally non-scientific approach. That captures things like philosophy (is it a shit ton of tiny objects you glue together? Or more of a functional/immutable kind of approach? Etc), ergonomics (does this feel right in my hands after using it for a few hours?), documentation, etc.
Another similar and esoteric one: I also look at the pedigree (the people behind the project). For example, Golang caught my interest because of Pike, Thompson and Kernighan and I'm a big fan of their prior work. Adopting a new language for non-toy projects is always a bit of a gamble, and in this case it paid off in spades.
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This might sound a bit esoteric, but it works for me every time: First of all, it's a feeling. Tech A feels more 'right', or resonates better, than tech B (where both are in the same category). Of course this is not the only metric. I'll look at longevity prospects of the tech, how much it breaks with 'tradition' and I'll try to focus on the negatives people have about the tech. But if more than one solution presents itself and I'm at an impasse - feeling wins.
I also acknowledge that one day, I might wake up to a stinking pile of tech-crap, but even then at least I know that at the time it felt right.
For example, many years ago, in a decade far far away (The 90s), I went with ColdFusion as a tech stack. Back then it was that, Perl or maybe TCL. ColdFusion felt right because it allowed very rapid prototyping with a clear syntax and batteries included. There was nothing like it. Fast forward a few years later and that tech was so smelly it made everyone nauseous but I knew at the time it made perfect sense, and by then other options presented themselves.
I had the same experience with XLST back in the day. At the time it was the perfect tool for my needs -- I no longer had to wheedle the back-end guys into giving me the specific data I needed, they could just dump it all on me in a big wad of XML and I could do anything I needed to it.
I mean, the whole time I knew it was a doomed language, far too philosophically pure to be practical, and the signs that XML was a mass hysteria were there from the beginning -- but it was exactly the tool I needed at the time I needed it.
I call it “does it speak to me?”, which I realize is a totally non-scientific approach. That captures things like philosophy (is it a shit ton of tiny objects you glue together? Or more of a functional/immutable kind of approach? Etc), ergonomics (does this feel right in my hands after using it for a few hours?), documentation, etc.
Same principle when redecorating our house: Will I still like the colour after a week? a month? a year?
Another similar and esoteric one: I also look at the pedigree (the people behind the project). For example, Golang caught my interest because of Pike, Thompson and Kernighan and I'm a big fan of their prior work. Adopting a new language for non-toy projects is always a bit of a gamble, and in this case it paid off in spades.
Does this tech bring me joy?