We need to use the latest tech so we don’t fall behind!
In the world of software development, there is always a push to use the latest and greatest technology. It’s easy to get caught up in the hype and believe that using the newest technology will give your project a competitive edge. However, this mindset can lead to a never-ending cycle of constantly upgrading and retooling your project.
While there is no denying that new technologies can be useful and offer improvements over older ones, always chasing the latest trend is not always the best course of action. In fact, it can be a pointless endeavor that leads to wasted time, effort, and resources. This is especially true if your team has experience and skills in some other framework/language/tooling, the learning curve of something totally different and new can be very steep. Is your organization willing to make this investment into whatever the latest shiny thing is? Are you sure this is something you want to keep on using for a long time forward? Or are you just curious and want to try out something new since there is so much legacy stuff being maintained in-house which has led to some sort of developer burn out?
The cheese will keep on moving
One of the main reasons why chasing the latest technology is a futile effort is that technology evolves at an incredibly fast pace. What may be the latest and greatest technology today could be obsolete in a matter of months or even weeks. This means that investing too much time and effort in learning and implementing new technology could quickly become a waste of resources when a newer, better technology emerges. I remember the times before TypeScript won the battle for the Javascript superset languages. A lot of stuff was being built in a language called CoffeScript but young people today have probably never even heard of it.
Moreover, new technology can be buggy and not yet fully tested. It may be more susceptible to security vulnerabilities and less reliable than older, more established technologies. Jumping on the newest tech bandwagon without doing proper research and testing can cause more problems than it solves.
New tech can cost money
Another issue with always using the latest technology is that it can be expensive. New technology often requires more powerful hardware, additional licenses, or new development tools. This can quickly add up and strain your budget, especially if the technology becomes obsolete before you can recoup your investment. Cloud services are of course a fantastic way to host your project in a scalable manner, but if you already have some other hosting method, you need to think carefully about what your strategy is if you want to move to the cloud. It is not trivial, and during a time you will need to have both running in parallel. This might cost a lot of money, and you might need some additional consultants with expertise in moving services.
It’s not a long-term plan if it keeps changing
Lastly, always chasing the latest technology can lead to a lack of stability and consistency in your software development process. Constantly changing your development stack can make it difficult to maintain a consistent coding style, which can make it challenging for developers to collaborate effectively. If your project is split into multiple frameworks, languages and styles, maintaining it will become a headache. You will need to keep multiple skillsets in-house, even for legacy projects that are no longer actively being developed. Just think of recruting, sooner or later people in your team will change jobs and you have to find a replacement. Finding someone who is skilled in all the things that you use in your projects might be challenging if the list is very long.
In conclusion, while it’s essential to stay up-to-date with the latest technology trends, chasing the newest technology is not always the best course of action. In many cases, it’s a pointless endeavor that can lead to wasted resources, a lack of stability, and even security vulnerabilities. Instead, it’s important to evaluate the technology you’re using carefully and only upgrade when it makes sense for your project and team. By doing so, you can avoid falling into the trap of always chasing the next big thing and focus on building great software that meets your business’s needs.