In software development, we are always asking ourselves which tool to use to solve the problem we are trying to solve. Should we use SQL or NoSQL? And if we want to use NoSQL, what specific implementation should we use? What about authentication frameworks? or performance testing? the list is infinite.
And the biggest problem – you can’t ask tool-recommendation questions in StackOverflow. Most of the time they are closed as “subjective”. But the (SO) Gods have heard our cries, opening the new Software Recommendations site, which opened 33 days ago.
Let’s just hope it works, and doesn’t become a site where people fight over which framework is better.
Hi … I tend to agree on the “lets just hope it works” comment at the end. To keep things ‘honest’ I imagine a format where one adds an evaluation criterion, say: “modularity” with a short definition (50 words?). Then people could vote on particular criteria. No conversation just thumbs-up and thumbs-down (bit like an App store).
In this model you could leave a short comment (20 words?) against your thumb-up/-down so that the curious can see why you voted that way. It is interesting that the softwarerecs is following the traditional StackOverflow format, where recommendation questions are quickly closed down.
I thought to post a comment about the methodology because I’m reminded of a Tom Stoppard quote: “Freedom of speech only benefits the articulate.”
Interesting. And I like the quote, but I couldn’t verify it’s source – and was event unable to find it in the net…