buildsrather

buildsrather is a software development philosophy and open-source framework intended to guide teams toward prioritizing in-house construction of software components over reliance on external services. It emphasizes building core capabilities and reusable modules rather than patching gaps with third-party products. The term combines "build" and "rather" to reflect the preference for custom development when feasible.

Origin and development: The concept originated in online developer communities in the early 2020s as a response to dependency management concerns and vendor lock-in. It was formalized as a lightweight framework that provides a decision checklist and a reference architecture for monorepos, build pipelines, and contract testing.

Key concepts: Build-first mindset; modular architecture with explicit boundaries; dependency governance; continuous integration and automated testing; risk scoring and cost-benefit analysis; documentation and knowledge transfer.

Implementation and tooling: Buildsrather recommends a pipeline approach with versioned internal libraries, semantic versioning, and automated release notes. It favors code repositories, contract tests, and interface-based design to limit coupling with external services.

Reception and critique: Supporters argue it increases maintainability, security, and long-term agility. Critics warn of reduced speed, potential duplication of effort, and the burden of maintaining custom implementations. Adoption tends to be selective, often in organizations with strong engineering culture or regulatory requirements.

See also: build vs buy, software craftsmanship, monorepo, dependency management.