[sesteel]

I cannot tell you the number of times I thought I invented something new and novel only to later find out it already existed. So, while it is true that you can sometimes find paths untraveled, many things related to first principles seem already heavily explored in CS.

[schneems]

That sounds like it could be interpreted two ways. On one hand you’re not the first to discover something, on the other hand your invention is validated as being worthwhile.

In times like those (depending on how much work I put into it) I might retrace the steps I took when I was searching for a solution before writing my own and if I can find something like a stack overflow post then link to the ultimate solution. Or blog about it using the search terms I originally tried etc.

A core part of science is reproducing others work.

Also from HCI one thing I took away from research on brainstorming: slight variations and deviations can be novel and produce a better outcome. The research here is that people misunderstanding someone else’s idea isn’t a problem, but rather generates a brand new alternative. If you feel you’ve redone some work, look a little closer, perhaps something small about it is novel or new.