As programmers we forget the fact that many of the problems we encounter every day have already been solved. We don’t need to write a sort algorithm, create a new type of data structure, or write an encryption library from scratch.  We try not to repeat ourselves, but we have no problem repeating every one else.

I know that programmers love acronyms, play on words, and guidelines. Therefore, I am proposing the DRAW principal. Don’t Repeat Anyone’s Work.

This is defined as: Not solving generic and common problems that have already been solved. This may take many forms, it could be as simple as using a common library, or it may be more in depth such as reading the code of an open source application, or even looking up a general form of an algorithm.

This is a problem that many programmers have faced for a long time, and we have complained about it for a long time here, here, and here. Sometimes we think we can solve a problem very quickly, sometimes we don’t know some one has already solved it, we may even think we can do a better job, or just maybe we are doing it for hack value. Whatever the reason we have all, took the time to solve a problem that has been solved before, that could have been handled with a quick Google search.

Many times Google will return an answer you are looking for. Last week I had to parse a comma delimited list, passed as a string from from a web service I was integrating into a .NET application. Below is the Google search I used, which return a number of results. Parsing CSV data is something that has been solved thousands of times before. It was that straightforward.

Part of being a good software developer is knowing when to be lazy, and find an already existing solution and when you have to hand code something. The basics of this principal is being knowledgeable about the language you are using, and being able to research problems, and leverage the resources of the developer community at large.

Footnote this is play on the DRY Principle

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