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Discussion on: Do you find value in writing your own frameworks?

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Kasey Speakman • Edited

Do you find value in writing your own frameworks?

Great question. My answer is No. I have tried writing my own frameworks (especially for APIs) multiple times. I find that frameworks which require extending or plugging into its abstractions are a road to pain. Code ends up coupled to the framework. Changes to frameworks tend to be breaking. But it always happens that I later run into a use case that the framework I wrote doesn't quite cover, requiring breaking changes. And frameworks tend to be the leakiest of abstractions. You often can't use them properly unless you understand how they work internally. And usually the framework abstractions require you to learn specific details about them that doesn't transfer to anything else. For example, something valuable could be taking the space in my brain that Angular 1 directive knowledge currently occupies. That's probably why I haven't liked any UI frameworks I've ever used up until Elm (MVU pattern).

Libraries where you can choose to use or not use its specific functions are the nicest to work with.