How to decide which framework to use in a take-home project?

Recorded May 2nd 2020 – watch the full episode on YouTube.

How do you decide which framework or implementation will be better to use and implant in a take home project?

Sean Allen: Well, if it's not part of the requirements, because sometimes they'll tell you exactly what to build. So obviously that probably doesn't apply to this question, but if you have the freedom to pick and choose however you want to build it, I mean.

Wherever you want to build it. Which framework to use? It really depends on what the project is.

Paul Hudson: I'm thinking more that they're a hand we'd reach for instinctively. Or you'd actually get it. Actually, I could build that from scratch, build that from scratch, build that from scratch. Are you happy to use frameworks at all to come into views? Or would you think, “no, no, no, I want to build this thing entirely from scratch.”

“Which framework to use? It really depends on what the project is.”

Sean Allen: So when you say frameworks, I guess I was thinking like the Apple first-party framers, but you're talking about just third party libraries in general.

Paul Hudson: If you’re given a take home test and you're thinking to yourself, “okay, I've got a week to implement Giphy,” for example, would you instinctively reach for third-party libraries and frameworks, or do you make yourself the most you can? Are there a handful you reach for always, or for you as always not invented here, do it all myself?

Sean Allen: Initially my first goal would be to try and do it myself. Because I think that shows when you turn in your project, to me it just shows a better understanding. I've received take home projects as part of the hiring process for Aluna when we hired. I had one project, it was a small simple take home project and there were 10 third-party libraries in there. And I'm like, did you do anything? It had a library for everything. I was like, that's not a good look. Right. Because you're wondering, what can they actually build?

“Initially my first goal would be to try and do it myself. Because I think that shows when you turn in your project, to me it just shows a better understanding.”

So yeah, I try to build everything all native. Now, of course, that may not be realistic. An example I usually go to is, if you have a good chart in your app, there's a great library out there called Charts. I tend to use that because creating your own dynamic chart from scratch, that's a tall task. But things like networking, I used to reach for Alamofire instinctively.

Over the past two years or so I’ve kind of gotten off that because it's very, very heavy if all you're doing is basic get posts, you know what I mean? If you're not doing multi-part form uploads and all kinds of crazy stuff, I feel it's very bloated for just simple stuff. So yeah. Anyway, long answer, I tend to do it myself if I can.

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