Avoid Mini-Frameworks

4 months ago

Mini-frameworks are small, team-specific frameworks built on top of a company's shared tech stack to address perceived shortcomings.
They introduce new concepts, claim to solve problems 'magically,' and often push for broader adoption despite being tailored to specific needs.
The author shares a personal story where a mini-framework caused significant pain, including prolonged migration, increased complexity, and reduced productivity.
Mini-frameworks lack feature completeness and compatibility, often failing to handle edge cases or adapt to changing requirements.
They violate the Easier To Change (ETC) principle by locking in current use cases and relying on implementation details of the original framework.
Mini-frameworks reflect the creator's mental model, which may not align with others', leading to cognitive load and usability issues.
They contribute to tech stack fragmentation and suffer from maintenance issues, especially when original authors leave.
Instead of mini-frameworks, the author recommends creating libraries that don’t introduce new concepts and linking abstractions to concrete business needs.
If a framework is necessary, it should be built from scratch, not as a wrapper, and treated as a serious decision with proper justification.

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