Developer tools are different from tools for other professions in one very important way:

The same people that build the tools are the people that use the tools.

This is not true for almost all other professions, in tech and especially outside of tech. For example, bakers will rarely reinvent ovens because building a commercial-grade oven is a totally different skill set than making bread.

Even professions where people regularly build their own tools can’t bring them to the rest of the world easily.

For example, blacksmiths often make their hammers and anvils. But how does a blacksmith go from making a better hammer to distributing it to many other people? That takes a lot of work and the additional skill set of building a product business.

Developer tools are different

We developers build our own “commercial-grade” tools every day. It’s a routine part of our craft to be tackling a task and build a shared abstraction to simplify our work.

On top of that, sharing one of these abstractions with the entire world is as simple as git push! 🤯

That is different than any other profession I know of and is the reason why developers’ day-to-day lives keep changing dramatically. (usually for the better, despite complaints about “JavaScript fatigue”!)

It also means that Developer tools startups are playing on hard mode.