Here I explain why we need to more think about problem before jumping into the solution and how we should value innovation even when there is a working solution in place.

1. Do Reinvent the Wheel!
Hamidreza Soleimani
Software Engineer, Architect @ Spotify
Nov. 2021

2. Reinventing the Wheel:
“to waste time trying
to create something
that someone else has
already created”
- Cambridge Dictionary

3. There is NO wheel
There is NO one-size, ready-made solution that solves your specific problem

4. It might be
too much!
... or too little!

5. Current wheels are NOT perfect

6. The High Wheel bike was the first machine
to be called a "bicycle".
It was popular in the 1870s and 1880s,
with its large front wheel
providing high speeds and comfort.
… but , is it really “comfortable”?
- Wikipedia

7. 20 years of suffering and NOT reinventing the wheel!

8. The REAL evolution of wheel
Stone Wheel iPod Wheel
Let’s call software a “wheel” for now!

9. In today’s word most of the softwares are really bad!
iPhone X
4 GB RAM
2490 MHz CPU
IBM System/360 Model 75
256 KB RAM
0.043 MHz CPU

10. Your iPhone is
X 1,000,00 more RAM
X 100,000 faster CPU
than Apollo 11

11. “Same same, but difference!”
vs.
Macbook Pro:
CPU: 16-Core 3.3GHz Intel Xeon
RAM: 32GB
Playstation 4:
CPU: 8-Cores 2.75GHz AMD
RAM: 8GB

12. Hardware
speeds
doubles every
two years, but
NOT the
softwares!

13. Wheel is the solution,
you should first focus on your problem

14. We should not move away
from problem solving to just googling

15. Googling = minimum effort + maximum result

16. Bad wheels is the
result of shifting
focus from
problem solving
to just googling!

17. … should we reinvent all the wheels?

18. We should NOT!

19. Unless ...
1. We need to learn how the wheel works
2. We understand the problem and the wheel that being handed to us

20. Technology keep evolving by reinventing itself!

21. Linux
is a reinvention of
Unix

22. Professor Andrew S. Tanenbaum
- Computer Scientist
- Creator of Minix
Linus Torvalds
- Creator of Linux
Tanenbaum to Torvalds:
“Be thankful you are not my
student. You would not get a
high grade for such a design”

23. … but Professor Tanenbaum was wrong!
Server Operating System Worldwide (2020)

24. However,
market share
is NOT always
the right metric!
Messenger Apps Market Share Worldwide (2021)

25. … same with the programming languages.
Mostly used Programming Languages Worldwide (2021)

26. vs.
Quicksort Algorithm
in

27. Quicksort Algorithm
in

28. So, should we reinvent the Java?
Yes, we should, with Kotlin, because:
- Kotlin comes from industry, not academia
- Kotlin works existing Java frameworks and libraries
- Kotlin can be learned in a few hours
- Kotlin enforces no particular philosophy of programming
- Google adopted Kotlin as the first choice for Android
Yes, we should, with Scala, because:
- Scala combines oop and functional
- Scala is concise and high-level
- Scala’s static types help avoid bugs in complex apps
- Scala has access to huge ecosystems of Java libraries
- Big Data ecosystem adopted Scala as the first choice

29. What about JSON / YAML?
Filter: filename:*.json size:>10KB => Result: 66,602
Filter: filename:*.yaml size:>10KB => Result: 4,124
Number of large json and yaml files in a Spotify open-source repositories

30. JSON / YAML Problems:
- Not Modular
- No Type System
- No Prototyping System
- No Bitwise / Arithmetic Operation
- No Variable

31. Confee notation files can be compiled
to JSON, YAML or other config
notation files.
data-type.confee
data-info.confee
data-info.yaml
Confee
Compiler

32. Closer look at Confee!
Every value can be
reused like a
variable
Custom-typed objects can
be reused as a prototype
Primitive types such as String,
Integer and Boolean supports basic
operations by + - * / % & |
operators
data-type.confee
data-info.confee
Confee files can be imported
like a module
Types should be defined for
every value

33. Question?
@hmdrezs
Next NexTalk: Artificial Intelligence is a reinvention of the way we Invent