🔗 Let libraries be libraries

My Elixir library pet peeve: application.ex. It’s common for Elixir libraries to act as their own applications, promoting anti-patterns that lead to less usable code. Many dependencies automate this, creating a supervision tree when running a library, but this complicates configuration. A library shouldn’t impose its supervision tree onto user applications, limiting configurability. The Elixir documentation highlights this issue, particularly in how it discourages using application configuration globally. Better library examples, like Finch, allow for user-defined supervision trees without dictating their structure. The article emphasizes that while libraries can offer applications’ features, it should be an exception rather than a rule, serving usability and configurability instead of creating rigid structures. This message echoes a call for better library design within the community, urging developers to prioritize flexibility and user control.