Pips are still Important/idea still count

In the tech community, it's often said that ideas aren't worth much; taking action is what truly matters. This statement fundamentally acknowledges that without practical implementation, even the best ideas are meaningless.

However, my perspective has gradually changed. While it's essential for engineers to have a solid foundation, it often feels like we spend our days discussing the intricate workings of various frameworks, new frameworks popping up, and someone using XXX to create a ToDo App. It all seems like a vibrant and colorful exchange of technology, but does it truly change anything within the software development ecosystem?

Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying these discussions are unimportant or uninteresting. Frameworks like React have indeed sparked a front-end revolution, prompting us to rethink the essence of front-end engineering. Everyone has their own career choices, and clarifying requirements, writing maintainable and easily developed code, and exploring the essence of computer science are indeed the duties of an engineer. I also strive to delve deeper into technology during my spare time.

Yet, it increasingly feels like whenever we encounter a simple requirement, we must engage in over-engineering as much as possible. The functionality seems secondary; front-end development should ideally start with React, Angular, or Vue, and we should have CI/CD, SSR, DevOps, various third-party integrations, linters, and webpack in place before even discussing functionality.

With the advancement of more and more tools, such as Heroku, Netlify, ZEIT, AWS Lambda, and a myriad of other cloud services, creating a decent product no longer requires the same degree of struggle as in the past. Tools like WordPress allow for quick setup with just a tutorial and a stable server, often resulting in better performance than a month of painstakingly self-built websites.

Here are a few examples that come to mind:

Github

An example shared by a senior colleague was GitHub.

Do you remember the article about GitHub removing jQuery? This article was based on the advancements in browsers, emphasizing that most modern browsers can handle more contemporary APIs, which led GitHub to gradually phase out jQuery.

Since then, I haven't heard of GitHub adopting any new frameworks. However, if you take a close look at GitHub's UI and experience, while it may not be the most perfect or amazing, it is certainly stable and user-friendly, utilized by developers from all over the world.

Behind it is the often-criticized Ruby on Rails. The front end doesn't use trendy frameworks like React or Vue; instead, it employs custom elements.

The services and value that GitHub provides are indispensable to software engineers.

Mask Ordering System

Next, let's discuss the mask ordering system. When it first launched, it was met with a lot of criticism for being difficult to use and having an ugly UI.

I believe any engineer who has dealt with legacy code systems can understand this situation easily. The goal is to address immediate needs; if we insist on making everything perfect, we risk ending up with nothing.

This serves as a great case of iteration, where feasible features are rolled out to meet urgent needs, satisfying user requirements, and then gradually adjusted based on feedback.

Moreover, once the pandemic is over (and let's hope it's soon), I doubt many people will still need this feature. This example illustrates that no system is perfect; rather, it evolves with the changing demands.

The real-name system for mask ordering and online purchasing through health insurance cards are excellent ideas in my view, and they do effectively address certain user needs.

Good Harmony Subtitler

A few weeks ago, I mentioned the Good Harmony subtitling program as an example in "The Rise of Creators — Writing Code."

Good Harmony utilized simple code along with p5.js to create a prototype, solving the issue of adding subtitles. This task isn't difficult, but has anyone considered using this approach to create subtitles and actually implemented it?

Six Fingers Abyss

A few weeks ago, Six Fingers Abyss also released a video demonstrating how they used CSS animation paired with Google Sheets to create animations.

Though it's a simple idea, the effects in the video look incredibly cool. Seeing these examples often leaves me in awe, thinking, "Wow! Such a simple approach can yield such great results; why didn't I know about this?"

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In reality, there are countless examples to mention. Here, I just want to highlight that ideas are still very important. Especially as technology continues to advance, the barriers to materializing ideas are becoming lower. As long as one is willing to take action, even amateurs can achieve remarkable results.