[jeffmcmahan]

I agree completely. Dependencies solve problems but not for free - bugs, security issues, versioning headaches, performance problems, compatibility gotchas, churn, &c. I live by the following:

(1) If a problem can be exhaustively specified in a formally well-defined way (mathematical logic), it will be wise to adopt a mature implementation - if it exists.

(2) If a problem can't be so specified, all implementations will be incomplete and will contain trade-offs. I have to address these problems myself to ensure that limits and trade-offs suit as well as possible what the business needs. If I can.

So, (1) says I shouldn't parse my own JSON. (2) says I should avoid the vast majority of what shows up in other people's dependency trees.