I feel like you can apply the same sentiment to many of the "big scary things" in programming.
Things that you don't want to build (as far as "common engineering wisdom" is to be believed):
- a compiler
- a programming language (not sure that there is a difference to compiler as stated in the article)
- a database (query engine)
- a CMS
- a ERP
But sometimes you actually _do_ want to build that (even if every alarm bell in your engineering lizard brain goes off), and then it's probably better to commit and learn the ins and outs of that specific problem domain.
I think especially the recommendation to commit to it is something that's missing from the article. It's "easy" to point a people and saying "look, you did the thing you said you wouldn't do", but far harder to suggest a course of action.
I personally hit the barrier of "things you shouldn't build" in the past, and I've always been happiest (and professional outcomes have been the best) when I decided to break through the barrier and prepare for what lies on the other side, instead of trying to dance around it for ages.
Things that you don't want to build (as far as "common engineering wisdom" is to be believed):
- a compiler
- a programming language (not sure that there is a difference to compiler as stated in the article)
- a database (query engine)
- a CMS
- a ERP
But sometimes you actually _do_ want to build that (even if every alarm bell in your engineering lizard brain goes off), and then it's probably better to commit and learn the ins and outs of that specific problem domain.
I think especially the recommendation to commit to it is something that's missing from the article. It's "easy" to point a people and saying "look, you did the thing you said you wouldn't do", but far harder to suggest a course of action.
I personally hit the barrier of "things you shouldn't build" in the past, and I've always been happiest (and professional outcomes have been the best) when I decided to break through the barrier and prepare for what lies on the other side, instead of trying to dance around it for ages.