When building a SAAS, every week comes with opportunities to use news tools. Maybe we need to add a new database or to track a new project. Those are almost never first-times. You most likely already have a database currently online.
This is a choice between sticking with the same technology or using something else. The alternative is always shinier (new is always better) and interesting. And the first moments of using a new tool usually feel amazing as we discover new territory.
But shiny new tools have a hidden secret. They like putting forward where they’re great at while skipping over “details” that are, in fact, crucial to your use-case. And even if they do work as advertised, getting them to work as well as the tool you already master can take from a few hours to a few months.
Our approach
At Hunter, we love our old tools: Ruby and Postgresql have been great for us. And we’re not planning to change. At the same time, we don’t want to miss out on new technologies crucial to our business.
If we find a new tool that is supposedly better equipped to deal with a challenge we’re facing, we keep in mind that:
- The learning curve can’t be avoided. Even if everything goes well, the new tool will cost us time in the short run.
- Do we *really *need a better solution to our problem? Or can we live with something “good enough”? Usually, we can.
- When a tool as been available for 10+ years. Every question we have has an answer online. For a new solution, even simple issues can lack documentation. We might also be the first to test the tool in some specific conditions.
Master your tools
As always, it all comes down to finding a middle ground. Are we fine spending time learning and implementing something new, hoping it will be better than what we already know?
I found out it’s (sadly?) rarely the case. Mastering a tool has tremendous effects on your long-term productivity and for the reliability of what you built. Inconsistency can rarely bring as much.
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