In Defense of Crusty Old Swiss Army Knives // Zach Goldstein

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2023-03-15 13:30:03

There’s a cold familiarity to them; you know what they’re good for and what they’re not, and despite their age, they remain largely the same as how you left them. In software, there aren’t a lot of tools that are allowed to get old. I feel like the default state is just a drop-off into obscurity.

But Django got old! Its twentieth birthday is almost here. I suppose that means Django has entered adulthood now, though 20ish years in software probably puts it more toward seniorhood than anything. When I stare at a CRUD-style use case, Django remains my default impulse. With the rise of stripped-down JS frameworks like HTMX, I thought it’d be exciting to pull out the crusty knives, sprinkle in some new JS goodness and explore the landscape. What follows in this article are my thoughts and lessons along the way. Enjoy!

In 2019, Kevin Lynagh applied a unique style of auction to sell a small run of unique mechanical keyboards: https://kevinlynagh.com/notes/pricing-niche-products/. In doing so, this auction provided tons of information about the demand curve for these keyboards and helped make decisions about how to sell the keyboards moving forward.