l0st3d

vi(m) is for sys-admins. Programmers need to know

  :q!
  $ emacs !$

Eclipse is frankly a poor text editor. After learning enough Emacs to get comfortable, it becomes clear that there is a better way. For example, undo. In Eclipse, type something, undo it and type something else. Now you can't use the undo/redo function to get the first thing that you typed back. In Emacs, you can, since undo is an undoable operation. Similarly, having things like i-search, align-regex and rectangle editing have become vital for editing code. These things either do not exist, or are difficult to discover or use in things like Eclipse.

> Does having to 'build your own framework' (my paraphrasing of your point) typically mean your software delivery is slower?

Possibly, initially. However, probably not significantly, since you should only build the framework that you need.

> Is this detrimental to the business objective you're trying to achieve?

No, since the business objective is to make money. The software is the means to do that, and the choices you make today limit the markets that you can expand into. If you decide that you're making a mobile app for android, then you are going to have to do a bunch of work (possibly including re-implementing the app) to get into the iphone or desktop market.

> Does a 2-fold approach work - using a more substantial framework to begin with (for speed) followed by re-factoring into your own more specialised "framework of libraries" later?

I think that taking the framework away is very difficult. Even when you've replaced all the code, and no longer depend on it, you still have the basic shape that lingers. I think that we generally call that a "re-write".

> Definitely some food for thought in your point - I presume it's based on actual experience of programming under both regimes?

yes

I think that was meant to be a joke.

I think that point is kinda conceded in the post. The problems arise when you get to some part of the framework that cannot be swapped out. In my experience, almost every project I've worked on has got to this point. The ones that didn't were small things that were basically 'done' in under 6 months. Software being 'done' tends to be a sign of a failing business, as you've run out of places to grow into, or things to optimise. That said, I've learned a lot from working with frameworks, and I would support your statement that frameworks are great for beginners.

Disclamer: I wrote the article, but didn't post it to hacker news

Didn't work for me (in chromium/fedora 14), I just saw the talking head and when the speech suggested I should be seeing something happen, nothing did.