This also including copy-paste from Gist or GitHub blobs, vs installing from / cloning the repos.
Copy-paste seems to have benefits, although it probably cannot be versioned directly.
- Not only size-aware, but also content-aware.
- Removing necessary codes and streamlining to your projects are easier.
- Bug fixing is yours, and can be easier. Not fixing bugs is a vulnerability.
- Dependencies' code is still code, and I believe that usually, the less code, the safer.
- Not really sure how to deal with LICENSE, though.
As NPM might be full of a few lines' packages; but not sure about how other repositories (e.g. PyPI) do, what do you think?
So, should I publish a Gist, a GitHub Repo, or a Package?
Top comments (2)
For me, this comes down to who is working on the project. If it’s just me, or if I’m prototyping, then I tend to copy in utility code so that I can modify it, if needed. Sometimes the utility code is only used in one place, and so can be made more specific to how I’m using it.
If I expect others to work on the same project, or if I expect to hand off the project at some point, then I use libraries instead. Using libraries makes it easier to separate project-specific code—that will need to be understood and maintained—from extraneous/utility/black-box code. If the library is well known (like lodash) then most devs will be able to recognise and understand it right away.
The birthday copypasta of all time is a matter of personal opinion, but some of the most popular ones include Navy Seal, Bee Movie Script, and the "gorilla warfare" variation of Navy Seal. These copypastas have been widely shared and referenced in internet culture.