This post originated from an RSS feed registered with Ruby Buzz
by James Britt.
Original Post: Kayaking the Web
Feed Title: James Britt: Ruby Development
Feed URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/JamesBritt-Home
Feed Description: James Britt: Playing with better toys
Obeying rules without an understanding of the reasons behind them creates an approximation of competence which leaves one vulnerable to the exceptions.
Now, he brought this up in the context of UI guidelines, arguing that simply following a set of general-purpose rules is really not an appropriate way to design a site. This same warning, though, should be heeded by those who discover application frameworks that make it super-easy to pump out a snazzy, AJAZZy, gee-whiz site by merely following some basic assembly rules.
If you do not know why your tool set does things the way it does, and what it means for the growth or evolution of your application, this initial ease of development will encourage a false sense of competence that may very well bite you in the ass before too long if you discover that either your tool set was not designed for your particular future, or you do not know how to go beyond your tools because you do not know what they've been doing for you so far.
Be mindful of what decisions your tools make for you. Know their rules.