= Webdev's Creed
{c}
{tag=Essays by Ciro Santilli}
{tag=Website stack}
> This is my <website stack>[stack]. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
My stack is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life.
Without me, my stack is useless. Without my stack, I am useless. I must fire my requests true. I must shoot straighter than my hackers who are trying to kill me. I must shoot him before he shoots me. I will ...
My stack is human, even as I am human, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weaknesses, its strength, its parts, its accessories, its <ORMs> and its <asset bundlers>. I will keep my stack clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other. We will ...
Before <God>, I swear this creed. My stack and I are the defenders of my website. We are the masters of our enemy. We are the saviors of my life.
So be it, until victory is mine and there is no enemy, but peace!
Explanation: this is an allusion to the <Rifleman's Creed>. This particular version talks about the <website stack> chosen for a website, i.e. the libraries used.
<Ciro Santilli> has always felt that choosing a stack is an almost religious choice. It is perhaps part of why the prayer style of the original <Rifleman's Creed> resonates with the web stack choice.
It is very hard to know how things are going go, the ups and downs, before putting big hours into it.
And once you start, it is hard, though not impossible, to move away.
The same allusion would make sense with any complex library choice, but it is particularly apparent in web development since there are so many different web stacks to choose from. A bit like rifles, they are all somewhat <fungible>, though of course not as much.
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