Design for a developer tool 3. Product frameworks

The more popular the framework gets, the less powerful it becomes:

• The more universal your truth, the less useful it is. When you generalize, you have to sacrifice context. Practice is all about context.

• Frameworks are not a substitute for knowing your subject. They help you not to be overwhelmed by revealing the patterns in your knowledge.

The biggest value I get from any framework is learning how to build frameworks. The quick, dirty, ad hoc system will teach you far more than a strict adherence to popular methods. If you were researching something and the data derailed you from the comfort of the framework — good. It's a chance to understand your subject for real.

So, should you try my approach? Sure, I'm happy if it inspires you. But please don't use it to replace the understanding of the developer audience.

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