Like most programmers, I frequently end up thinking that—given enough time and money—I could do it better than the “big boys.”  The industry even has a standard term for this sort of insanity: “Not Invented Here!” Like many such delusions, it’s varied in the execution but very simple to explain. Just take any piece of commercial-grade software that you consider to be inadequate or flawed, then imagine for a second that you could (and should!) rewrite it from scratch; only better! As delusions go, NIH would be counted harmless enough if it only went that far. I mean who amongst us hasn’t imagined that we could be a better actor than {?????}, or a better leader than {?????}, or even smarter or prettier than {?????}.  Or, or, or… Continue reading →