The NIH Syndrome in Action: Calling Solr’s REST API

As I mentioned in my previous post, I was having a chat with a search architect on C# and Solr and he was telling me how they were going to call Solr using its REST API, which IMHO is not the best way to go.

I recommended SolrNet and I stick with this recommendation because you do not want to reinvent the wheel. SolrNet has been built over the course of several years, there are plenty of people using it and they have had the time to understand the functionality that Solr provides and code it accordingly. The problem that you will face if you implement everything via REST calls is that you need to take into consideration all possible scenarios, which in a lot of cases does not happen, And that’s when exceptions start to occur.

In some cases it is not possible to use a library as there may be legal implications. But in other cases it is because of the NIH syndrome, or the not invented here syndrome.

Sometimes teams prefer to have everything created in house. In my opinion that may apply pretty well if you have a closed library as you are at the mercy of the company’s support and sometimes even their ability to profit and therefore continue to exist.

But if it is open source, like SolrNet, then don’t be afraid. You are in control, you can modify the code if need be – as with any open source, of course following the licensing terms – and definitively you can benefit from the experience of many others that have traveled the same road you are currently on.

But of course, be nice. If you make an improvement, please contribute back to the SolrNet community. Then we all mutually benefit.