You call the shots, not your tools

I often see devs getting enslaved by the tools they use. Take typed languages, for instance — yes, we all want IntelliSense, yes, we want those compile/transpile time checks, but should these be the core reasons for introducing chunks of code in our codebases?

I commonly see devs get led to implementing abstractions and features because the compile time suggests it, often leads to over-engineered, needlessly complex solutions. I often find myself in this position as well.

Yes, the compiler is hinting you at something, but maybe it’s not about writing workarounds. It might be more of a sign to step back, look at it from a higher perspective, and you may find that the issue is about the structure of things rather than that specific line with the red squigglies.

We want these tools to do our bidding; we should be calling the shots, not the other way around.

I should probably add more examples but that monster won’t hunt itself.

Aside: MHGU is super fun! I tend to pick it up more that Rise.