If you're interested in re-inventing wheels, don't stop at a new module that does something slightly different from an existing one. Noooo. Start with writing your own version of Perl. Too much work? Ok, so there's a limit then.

But maybe that's not your limit. ...maybe you want to create a new language. But first you get sidetracked on finding a better way to build a microprocessor. But as you start working on that, you realize that a new transistor design would be fantastic, and before you can do that, vacuum tubes should have been designed slightly differently for better longevity.

My point (that I'm making in a rediculous way) is that you can easily sidetrack a very good project by wasting vast quantities of time building specialized tools, when generalized tools would do the job just fine. NASA used to carry the "invent your own" philosophy to an extreme, and the result was $10,000 hammers, $30,000 toilet seats, etc. If you can ONLY accomplish your task with a $10,000 specialized type of hammer, you're going to have to innovate and make one. But if you can get the job done fairly well with a $15 hammer from the hardware store, you'll have some budget and time left to actually build the rest of the house.


Dave

In reply to Re: What's wrong with re-inventing wheels by davido
in thread What's wrong with re-inventing wheels by jimt

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.