NIH Syndrome
Not Invented Here
ELI5 — The Vibe Check
When developers refuse to use existing libraries because 'we can build it better ourselves.' Spoiler: you usually can't, and even if you can, it's not worth the time. Why reinvent the wheel when npm has 47 wheels already? (Though sometimes those wheels have 47 vulnerabilities...)
Real Talk
Not Invented Here syndrome is the tendency to avoid using external solutions — libraries, tools, or patterns — in favor of building custom implementations. While sometimes justified (dependency risk, specific requirements), it often leads to wasted effort, maintenance burden, and inferior solutions.
When You'll Hear This
"NIH syndrome is why we have a custom ORM instead of using Prisma." / "Sometimes NIH is valid — you don't want 200 dependencies for a landing page."
Related Terms
Boilerplate
Code you have to write every single time you start a project but that doesn't actually do anything interesting.
Dependency
A dependency is a package your project relies on to work. Your app depends on React to render UI, axios to make requests, and dotenv to read config.
Open Source
Open source means the recipe is public. Anyone can read it, copy it, tweak it, and share their version. It's the opposite of a secret sauce.
Technical Debt
Technical debt is the coding equivalent of putting things on a credit card.