I Refuse to Use
I recently saw Amber Weinberg's tweet after it blew up on twitter:
I refuse to use Sass
— Amber Weinberg (@amberweinberg) December 1, 2017
I refuse to use React
I refuse to use Redux
I’m still here and still have plenty of clients who appreciate clear, clean code.
My gut reaction was that it was a bit harsh to those of us who choose to use Sass, React, or Redux. It implies that anyone who uses those tools isn't writing clear, or clean code, which explains why so many front-end developers collectively flipped thier shit at it.
But seeing as Amber's a WordPress developer, it entirely makes sense to me that she would have no use for React and Redux. I can even see why she'd avoid Sass too*. The types of problems best solved by a WordPress site do not necessitate any use of React or Redux.
As a front-end developer I've seen significant overuse of front-end frameworks from developers who have succumbed to the law of the hammer. When learning a new tool it's easy to miss the part where you learn where it's useful and where it's not useful.
A surgeon wouldn't use a chainsaw when they could use a scalpel**.
"I refuse to use a chain saw" says the surgeon, who has no need of the tool.
— Timothy Leverett (@zzzzBov) December 3, 2017
"I'm still here and still have plenty of clients who appreciate clear, clean cuts."
"...but chainsaws cut cleanly!" exclaim the lumberjacks defensively. https://t.co/yhoLUvb47B
Anyway, this is all a long way to say that there are other popular technologies that do not solve problems that I have, which I too refuse to use.
In particular:
I refuse to use Bootstrap
I refuse to use Ruby
* I think Amber might want to consider Sass for some use cases, but whether or not Sass is a useful tool for WordPress development is entirely irrelevant to this post, and there are far too many other developers attempting to make that point in under 280 characters that I don't think it's worth anything more than a cursory note.
** Let's ignore the part where chainsaws were invented for amputating limbs. Most surgeries don't involve amputating limbs.
