I think of this kind of tool wank as "Guitar Center development" - the conviction that choosing the perfect combination of web framework, revision control system, programming language, data store, templating engine and web server is a prerequisite to building an awesome app.
It's exactly analagous to the idea that you can't truly shred until you've assembled the right set of effects pedals, preamps, niobium-plated strings, vintage depleted-uranium core wound pickups and ocelot-tooth guitar pick.
This is one of the few times I wish I could upvote someone more than once.
The painful truth about web services is that it doesn't matter what tools you use; at least initially. If it does something useful and you are getting revenue you can and will rearchitect and rework the solution as it grows. And as a system grows it tends to become heterogeneous, an all php shop will suddenly sprout a java based search engine, an ASP.NET shop will throw a linux box in front of it's app servers to act as a reverse-proxy filter/load balancer, and so on. The really good thing about the current state of the art is that you have a multitude of tools available to solve any given problem. The issue is you need to have people who have experience with more than one toolset to make sensible decisions and be able to pick the right solution for the task at hand.
yep spot on. Pick the technology that you have the available skills for right now. As the problems present themselves (and you normally can't predict them because you don't know how your service is going to be used and what strange usage patterns the users will come up with) then solve them.
Its better being adaptable and rolling with the demands than being stuck with a problem you didn't predict that you can't solve without major surgery because everything else is so strictly defined.
Comments
I think of this kind of tool wank as "Guitar Center development" - the conviction that choosing the perfect combination of web framework, revision control system, programming language, data store, templating engine and web server is a prerequisite to building an awesome app.
It's exactly analagous to the idea that you can't truly shred until you've assembled the right set of effects pedals, preamps, niobium-plated strings, vintage depleted-uranium core wound pickups and ocelot-tooth guitar pick.
Just play the damn thing.
This is one of the few times I wish I could upvote someone more than once.
The painful truth about web services is that it doesn't matter what tools you use; at least initially. If it does something useful and you are getting revenue you can and will rearchitect and rework the solution as it grows. And as a system grows it tends to become heterogeneous, an all php shop will suddenly sprout a java based search engine, an ASP.NET shop will throw a linux box in front of it's app servers to act as a reverse-proxy filter/load balancer, and so on. The really good thing about the current state of the art is that you have a multitude of tools available to solve any given problem. The issue is you need to have people who have experience with more than one toolset to make sensible decisions and be able to pick the right solution for the task at hand.
yep spot on. Pick the technology that you have the available skills for right now. As the problems present themselves (and you normally can't predict them because you don't know how your service is going to be used and what strange usage patterns the users will come up with) then solve them.
Its better being adaptable and rolling with the demands than being stuck with a problem you didn't predict that you can't solve without major surgery because everything else is so strictly defined.
Definitely true.
But we each still like to think about that perfect Gibson Les Paul Custom we would have if we were a rockstar..