> That somehow the authors of random libraries on npm are amazing coders whose code quality can't be touched by mere mortals like us.
That's not what I said, nor what I believe. But I think it absolutely is true that most developers would struggle to reproduce the functionality of a fairly meaty dependency they've chosen (that is, not most of the dreck on the npm registry).
If a dependency exists for what you need to do, and after some vetting believe it to be of good quality, it's highly unlikely that it would be a good use of your employer's time to reimplement it yourself. I agree that it'd probably be a good learning experience to do it, but that's not the only consideration.
As for the rest, there's nothing that you're saying that's particularly wrong, but it's absolutely wrong if you apply it 100% of the time, because that would mean everyone would have their own bespoke web framework, networking library, UI toolkit, etc. I don't expect that you're actually making that argument, so it's a bit uncharitable of you to suggest that I'm making the exact opposite one, that no one should ever think about implementing something themselves.
Dependencies have a cost. Not using a dependency also has a cost. Figuring out which cost is lower is part of the job, and that decision needs to be made several times on every project.
That's not what I said, nor what I believe. But I think it absolutely is true that most developers would struggle to reproduce the functionality of a fairly meaty dependency they've chosen (that is, not most of the dreck on the npm registry).
If a dependency exists for what you need to do, and after some vetting believe it to be of good quality, it's highly unlikely that it would be a good use of your employer's time to reimplement it yourself. I agree that it'd probably be a good learning experience to do it, but that's not the only consideration.
As for the rest, there's nothing that you're saying that's particularly wrong, but it's absolutely wrong if you apply it 100% of the time, because that would mean everyone would have their own bespoke web framework, networking library, UI toolkit, etc. I don't expect that you're actually making that argument, so it's a bit uncharitable of you to suggest that I'm making the exact opposite one, that no one should ever think about implementing something themselves.
Dependencies have a cost. Not using a dependency also has a cost. Figuring out which cost is lower is part of the job, and that decision needs to be made several times on every project.