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0 pointshackthemack1y ago0 comments

One of the things that really burned me out over the years is how many times I would say something to the effect of "Maybe using GraphQL is over complicating the process and we should just use the old tried and true methods" and I would get drowned out by everyone chasing the latest thing or derided for not wanting to try something new.

"Maybe implementing CORBA for message passing is over complicating it." "Maybe using OOP and facade classes is over complicating it." "Maybe using XML to store all the config information is over complicating it." "Maybe using this ORM with a strange file based caching mechanism is over complicating it."

And always get drowned out by everyone going with the trend.

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roenxi1y ago

It isn't specific to software either. The root cause seems to be a large number of people who don't understand either the basic technique (like rest) or the alternate technique (like GraphQL) and so make the choice based on what the majority of people are talking about right now. They won't listen to you, because there is one of you and usually 5-10 people talking about the latest big thing. They make the decision using that literal metric.

That simultaneously makes marketing value and drives a lot of silly decisions. Not much to be done though, humans are human

fl0ki1y ago

> a large number of people who don't understand either the basic technique (like rest)

To be fair, it's hard to understand when virtually everyone using this term is using it wrong.

https://htmx.org/essays/how-did-rest-come-to-mean-the-opposi...

djbusby1y ago

There is a place for you, somewhere.

I spend loads of time on LoB apps, still rocking Apache prefork to CGI. Does it scale? Sure, to all 3200 users company wide. Everything it's boring. Caching? Never got in the Memcache vs Redis fight later. 10yr after that? We picked Redis for the case where it had proven to kick ass.

Did you know that PHP5.4 apps can still generate profit in 2024?

fouc1y ago

I'm always reminded of the mantra "Choose Boring Technology" https://boringtechnology.club

AlchemistCamp1y ago

For a long piece that doesn’t once mention Erlang or Elixir, it’s the strongest argument for using them I’ve read.

You could literally replace every part of any of the stacks he mentioned with Erlang. Python/PHP, cron, memcache, even the databases in the extreme case. It’s an older tech, too, so in his model this amounts to spending m zero innovation tokens for the entire stack.

vintermann1y ago

There's boring and there's boring. Personally I think Java EE / beans and SOAP is really boring, but I would never, ever choose it.

dventimi1y ago

"Maybe using a general-purpose programming language instead of just SQL is overcomplicating it," said I every day of my life for the past 25 years. Oh well. You can't fight City Hall.

Cthulhu_1y ago

This is an eternal struggle for either senior or self-assured developers, convincing others to rein in their enthusiasm / hype. Plus, extroverts (loudmouths) vs introverts (who are correct, but refuse to play the extrovert's game).

cutemonster1y ago

That's not at all what extrovert or introvert means or is related to.

Yhippa1y ago

Think about all the LinkedIn clout you missed out on by not incessantly talking about the ${NEW_THING}!

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