Conceitedly assertive and dogmatic in one's opinions.
Excessively proud of oneself; vain.*
I'm not sure who first used the word "opinionated" to describe a software framework in a positive light, but I know the place I encounter it most often is in reference to Rails. The good news is, I bet DHH fully understands the meaning of these words, and is still more than happy to identify by them. At least he knows what he's doing. But I still think this is a stupid thing to be proud of.
Unfortunately, writing "opinionated" code has since just become the thing to do. And I don't think most people who have jumped on that bandwagon bothered to look it up in the dictionary first. As a result, I now have the impression that when someone says their framework is opinionated what it really means is they're claiming it's general purpose, but it really only works in a very specific scenario, and they don't even understand that other scenarios exist.
Imagine you're walking down the aisles at Home Depot looking for a tool to help you complete a job. Maybe you need a drill bit extension to reach into a tight corner. You have a certain kind of drill that accepts standard shaped bits, and your corner has certain dimensions, and you need to set a certain diameter screw. A helpful sales associate comes up and asks if he can help. You give him a quick high level summary, and he smiles knowingly.
"What you need is the XYZ fixed flexible dongle attachment! It's the only choice. All the other options are total bullshit, I can't believe we even stock them." He's kind of starting to foam at the mouth now...
"Believe me, this is the one."
OK, you think. It costs 3x as much as the other items on the shelf, but this guy clearly knows what he's talking about. You get it home and come to find, it doesn't fit your drill because it has a non-standard bit shape, it doesn't fit your bit because it's built for larger bits, and it's too short to reach into the corner anyway. And what does the guy say when you take it back to return it?
"Oh, well, this is an opinionated drill bit extension, it's not meant for your job."
I'm not sure who first used the word "opinionated" to describe a software framework in a positive light, but I know the place I encounter it most often is in reference to Rails. The good news is, I bet DHH fully understands the meaning of these words, and is still more than happy to identify by them. At least he knows what he's doing. But I still think this is a stupid thing to be proud of.
Unfortunately, writing "opinionated" code has since just become the thing to do. And I don't think most people who have jumped on that bandwagon bothered to look it up in the dictionary first. As a result, I now have the impression that when someone says their framework is opinionated what it really means is they're claiming it's general purpose, but it really only works in a very specific scenario, and they don't even understand that other scenarios exist.
Imagine you're walking down the aisles at Home Depot looking for a tool to help you complete a job. Maybe you need a drill bit extension to reach into a tight corner. You have a certain kind of drill that accepts standard shaped bits, and your corner has certain dimensions, and you need to set a certain diameter screw. A helpful sales associate comes up and asks if he can help. You give him a quick high level summary, and he smiles knowingly.
"What you need is the XYZ fixed flexible dongle attachment! It's the only choice. All the other options are total bullshit, I can't believe we even stock them." He's kind of starting to foam at the mouth now...
"Believe me, this is the one."
OK, you think. It costs 3x as much as the other items on the shelf, but this guy clearly knows what he's talking about. You get it home and come to find, it doesn't fit your drill because it has a non-standard bit shape, it doesn't fit your bit because it's built for larger bits, and it's too short to reach into the corner anyway. And what does the guy say when you take it back to return it?
"Oh, well, this is an opinionated drill bit extension, it's not meant for your job."
Code that does one well understood, well defined thing, is exactly what I want. But misunderstanding that well defined thing and advertising the code as the solution for everything is stupid. And being dogmatic and conceited about it isn't helping anyone.
* Definitions from Google
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