Enterprise Library
If you haven't heard about the Microsoft Enterprise Library, do yourself a favour and check it out. The Enterprise Library (from now on called the EntLib) is bunch of application blocks that you can use to build your application.
Most applications require some of the same fundamental components. EntLib contains the following application blocks -
- Caching
- Configuration
- Cryptography
- Data Access
- Exception Handling
- Logging and Instrumentation
- Security
From what I've seen, these things are very (very) well written. Why re-invent the wheel? With these components it's possible to save yourself many weeks of development. Then you can spend time on the business-specific requirements.
However - I'm not 100% comfortable using these application blocks. Why?
Not because they are badly designed.
Not because they are hard to use.
Only because I did not write them. I feel like I would be a failure as a coder if I didn't write these things myself. Will I tell my manager - “Here's the application, but the data access block and that fancy configuration screen is actually a Microsoft thing.”
It's very difficult to shake this (childish?) feeling. Has anybody else experienced this?