I think the complaint about too many tools is really just a euphemism for complaining about peer and employer pressure to always be up-to-date with the latest tools and styles. Developers live in constant fear of falling behind.
But is this pressure justified? I see two possibilities:
a) The latest crop of the top 10% tools really makes us much more productive than last year's crop of the top 10% tools. So the best developers will always filter through a lot of new tools to find the best 10% and benefit from them.
b) After accounting for productivity losses incurred by constantly relearning and rewriting everything, the lastest best tools have no productivity benefits. They are just a distraction from the product we're supposed to be working on.
I don't think there is ever a time in history when this question can be answered unequivocally, and therefore it is never possible for good developers to stop looking for better tools completely.
However, I feel that at no time in the past quarter century has the pendulum swung so far in the direction of (b) where front end development is concerned. I realize this is very subjective.
But is this pressure justified? I see two possibilities:
a) The latest crop of the top 10% tools really makes us much more productive than last year's crop of the top 10% tools. So the best developers will always filter through a lot of new tools to find the best 10% and benefit from them.
b) After accounting for productivity losses incurred by constantly relearning and rewriting everything, the lastest best tools have no productivity benefits. They are just a distraction from the product we're supposed to be working on.
I don't think there is ever a time in history when this question can be answered unequivocally, and therefore it is never possible for good developers to stop looking for better tools completely.
However, I feel that at no time in the past quarter century has the pendulum swung so far in the direction of (b) where front end development is concerned. I realize this is very subjective.