Ask HN: When do you use a library vs. implement something yourself?

Re:Ask HN: When do you use a library vs. implement something... by jsmeaton on Friday April 20, 2018 @05:05AM (#16883274)

I was being brief because I was leaving work so I’ll expand a bit.

An unmaintained library is usually more difficult to fix because fixes are no longer committed back or released. At that point you can choose to vendor and maintain your own copy, or replace it with something else. And at either of those points you’re no longer in context.

My point wasn’t really geared at debugging a piece of code. A library, my own, or a coworkers are roughly comparable. The cost to fix is a lot higher in a library though.

It’s not a universal rule, despite the way I originally phrased it.

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Re:Ask HN: When do you use a library vs. implement something... by V-2 on Friday April 20, 2018 @06:19AM (#16883591)

I think there is also certain negative selection bias in the sense that people are more likely to stop maintaining libraries that were badly designed / problematic to begin with. That's why I tend to be more sceptical than average when it comes to "orphaned" projects.

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