Life On The Leading Edge

/via http://www.commitstrip.com/en/2013/08/28/faut-que-jte-dise-un-truc/

Life on the Leading (and yes, definitely Bleeding) Edge means that you’re always working around that *one* feature that doesn’t quite work the way you’d like it to. Read this, and tell me if it sounds familiar —

1. 1. You start working on a new system. It’s important, so you can’t really just experiment with Bleeding Edge stuff, but you’ll use this relatively new framework (or library. or codebase. or whatever) that you really like. It’s been around for a while — not so long that it’s Old, and therefore UnCool — but long enough that it’s got most of the kinks worked out. Besides, it’s perfect for what you want to do.
2. 2. The thing is, it is almost perfect for what you need. There’s this one feature that you wish it supported, but you can work around. So you — happily! — work around that feature
3. 3. Over the next few months, it turns out that that one feature that you — happily! — worked around was a little bit more complicated than expected. The macros you used to work around the environmental dependencies? Well, it turns out that they interfered with the docker-based CI/CD pipelines, so you ended up — not so happily!— work around that with a couple of PITA hacks. Which was fine, because it all still worked, y’know?
4. 4. When you’re getting ready to deploy the current sprint, you discover that there’s a new version of the framework out, which
   a) fixes the issues that you are — not so happily! — working around, and
   b) adds a couple of new features that will make your life so much easier going forward.
   But, but!, you can’t just swap the new framework in, since you have to undo all those little PITA work-around that you are — not so happily! — dealing with, which means regression testing, at least one rewritten component, etc. So you decide to swap in the new framework in the nextcycle. But that’s ok!
5. 5. Come the next sprint, as you’re swapping in the framework, and you’re unwinding all the old PITA hacks, and adding in the new changes that came in on the sprint, you discover that there is this one feature that doesn’t quite do the way you would like it to, but you’re willing to — happily! — work around it. Besides, it’s perfect for what you want to do! So you work around it with a couple of new PITA hacks…

And you’re back on the merry-go-round, over and over and over again.

Sigh.