You can avoid the trap applying the usual rule of three [1]. You do something manually once or twice - once you find you need to do it the third time, it's a good indication you should automate.
But don't short-circuit this. If you build after the first time, you may well not know enough to build the tool right. After you've done the process more than once, you have a fair idea of what the tool needs to do.
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You can avoid the trap applying the usual rule of three [1]. You do something manually once or twice - once you find you need to do it the third time, it's a good indication you should automate.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_three_(computer_program...
But don't short-circuit this. If you build after the first time, you may well not know enough to build the tool right. After you've done the process more than once, you have a fair idea of what the tool needs to do.