Thread by @MrAlanCooper

Creating good tech products is a craft. Crafters are tool users. 1

One definition of a good crafter is that they know their tools, know what each tool is good for—and not good for—, select them wisely, and use them expertly. 2

Each particular tool must be clean and sharp and the crafter must know how to wield it safely, efficiently, and effectively. 3

Some tools are good for a lot of things. Some tools are good for just one or two tasks. But there is always a multitude of things that any given tool is not appropriate for. 4

Personal preference also plays a role here. There are usually multiple design and development tools suitable for any particular job. The practitioner is free to select the one they prefer. 5

So, any tool can be applicable or irrelevant, strong or weak, easy or difficult, preferred or not. 6

Okay, so that is all obvious. All Mom and apple pie. Easy to accept. And we see practitioners using a wide variety of tools in industry. 7

But that does not mean that there is no right or wrong choice. Some tools, despite their popularity, really suck at their jobs. Some tools really suck at some jobs. 8

Just because you are supposed to choose, that doesn’t mean that your choice doesn’t matter. It doesn’t mean that whatever you choose will have the same outcome. 9

Being able to choose the tool you like doesn’t mean having the freedom to choose a tool that doesn’t work, regardless of how pleasant you may find it. 10

I hear some practitioners asserting the opposite of this. They say, “Use whatever. There is no right and wrong.”

This is not true. There most definitely are right and wrong choices. 11

Your right and wrong choices in any particular situation might be different from mine, but that doesn’t mean that the choice is arbitrary. 12

I tweet this thread because I see educators and thought leaders propagating this nonsense about there being no right or wrong instead of doing the hard work of learning—and teaching—their tools. 13

I see young practitioners misunderstanding this subtle but important difference. It indicates the slow but inexorable degradation of our craft. 14