Doors

In software, there’s a lot of debate around “Vendor Lock-In”.

A simple example would be using services such as a “Queue” as opposed to using an open-source or custom built “Queue”.

Those in favor of the service correctly point to how it speeds up deployment, allows focus to be on higher level concerns, and increases velocity.

Those in favor of avoiding “Vendor Lock-In” correctly point out that it increases your dependencies and can leave you at the mercy of price increases.

My take?

It doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

I can consume an external service without spreading it’s internals through my entire application. Isolating it allows me to easily swap it whenever the tradeoffs make sense to swap. And oddly enough perhaps, my software becomes more resilient, easy to test, and easy to modify as a result.

So many choices are presented as one-way doors. Finding ways to keep those doors open increases your ability to pivot and your understanding of the “real” problem at work.