The Just Use X club
If you sense some bubbling frustrations seeping through my words this week take ten bonus points for observation. I am doing my best to turn a full-on rant into a mildly excoriating admonition to the members of a group of semi-technical folk I call the Just Use X club.
The letter X, in this context, is a placeholder. Common values of X that I encounter on my travels include:
- XML
- A relational database
- Unicode
- A spreadsheet
- Objects
- A content management system
Here are some simple examples of encounters with a member of the Just Use X club:
Engineer trying to find a solution: We need to find a way to ensure that our data can be understood by other computer systems. Member of the Just Use X club: Just use XML!
Engineer trying to find a solution: We need to standardize how we store customer order information. Member of the Just Use X club: Just use a relational database!
Engineer trying to find a solution: We need to produce a version of our system for the Chinese market. Member of the Just Use X club: Just use Unicode!
And so on, and so on. You get the idea.
The tough part of this from the standpoint of the poor engineer is that the suggestions coming from the member of the Just Use X club are Pauli's[1] immortal words "not even wrong"![2]. XML is often an important part of interoperability. Relational databases often feature in storing customer order information. Unicode definitely is part of the solution in internationalizing software products...
But therein lies the key point. These technologies are invariably just part of the solution - not the full solution. Not by a long way.
A second club needs to be formed called "When not to Just Use X" club. This group should devote itself to taking all values of X from the "just use X" club and listing off all the scenarios in which each X should not be used. They should also list off all of the things which will not automatically be true by virtue of the use of X. They should also list off all the areas where good old fashioned thought and design and hard work cannot be replaced by the simple gambit of using X.
Then, balance would be restored to the universe and I would be a calmer and happier person.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Pauli
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_even_wrong
ITworld.com
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