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> There are so many things to know nowadays. Honestly... not really. Unless you want to know everything out there. My college classmates are doing fine in thei

> There are so many things to know nowadays. Honestly... not really. Unless you want to know everything out there. My college classmates are doing fine in their job search just knowing Java (no frameworks!) and SQL, just Python, even just one JavaScript framework, etc. Whatever else they need they'll learn in the job without much stress. I honestly think this "need" of knowing as many APIs as possible is exaggerated online, partly thanks to blog posts or tweets of senior devs saying "X is this new good thing, Y is old and bad!" (which seem to be a weekly occurrence) and perhaps start ups since they don't have time to mentor because they have to grow ASAP. That works fine for them, but don't think it applies to every company. Seriously, take some time off the internet and you'll quickly stop caring. Unless you enjoy learning so many new things!

rplst8 11y ago
I hate to break it to you, but knowing "just this and this..." won't get you very far when the thing you know is no longer popular, becomes infrequently used, or worse, is no longer supported. It also doesn't help you if you want to branch out into things that Java/SQL/JS/Python don't really support that well. It also won't help you if you switch focus mid-career, which people often do, from say web development to embedded systems. No one sane is claiming that every programmer needs to know as many APIs as possible, but knowing they exist and being able to quickly find information on them is probably a requirement as you progress in your career. SO is a good place to spin up on things IMO. Is it the best way? I don't know - but it's helped me out a lot, and not for the purposes of cutting and pasting code snippets. It has literally helped me learn, syntax, paradigms, etc. in languages I use infrequently.
forgetsusername 11y ago
>My college classmates are doing fine in their job search So they're fresh out of college with nil professional experience and very little life-experience? Pretty presumptuous for them to be passing on advice to "senior devs".
ehnto 11y ago
I got a job because I knew Java, I have worked in the industry for just 8 years. I have had to learn PHP, Ruby, Javascript, Python, CSS, LESS, SASS, Angluar, React, Zend, Magento, Wordpress (begrudgingly), OpenCart, ZendCart, Prestashop, MySQL, Postgres, NoSQL, Redis, Memcached, PHPUnit, TDD, UDD, Agile, SCRUM, half a dozen variations on the agile process, Laravel, CakePHP, CodeIgnitor and probably many more that just aren't popping into my head right now. Then a bunch of different programming paradigms mixed in with that. The reason? It is very rare that anyone works on one, pristinely maintained product small enough to be encapsulated in just a few technologies, for their entire career. If you're at an agency, you're working with whatever the client walks in the door with, unless you can convince them to do a rewrite in your tools of choice. The work will be varied in quality, scope and complexity. Old or new, the technology stack is probably a mix match of whatever the architect thought was right at the time, and then whatever the subsequent senior devs from each new agency the project has been at decides should replace it (or more likely, some of it) If you're not at an agency, you could be at a startup. They're notorious for trendsetting technologies, but not many startups stick around and those that last probably move through a few iterations of their technology stack on their journey to a stable product. If you're a cog in one of the tech behemoths, you probably have the best bet of staying with one stack. But not even they stand still on technology, and whilst you might be writing in the same language, you will have to interface with the different technologies popping in and out of existence around you. The reason so many frameworks and technologies come and go isn't just because new things show up and people like shiny things, but old things often stop being maintained. Especially in open source. They don't make it, and so you can't use them anymore. That's why people were so angry that Angular is getting a rewrite. It's a javascript framework that was supposed to have longevity, because it was backed by Google. People could build companies upon it and know that it wouldn't change, and they did. Then Angular pulled the rug from underneath them, and there are now codebases made completely redundant and unable to move forward on the back of Angular without rewriting in the new Angular. But they can't even do that, because the new Angular wasn't out yet, but their stuff is already defunct. So they move to the new hotness. React sounds pretty cool right? Let's hope that lasts. TL:DR; The real world is messy, you will tumble out of the software development pipeline with SQL tech in your hair, Unit Tests under your nails and the dust of the many fallen JS frameworks in your eyes.

rplst8 11y ago

I hate to break it to you, but knowing "just this and this..." won't get you very far when the thing you know is no longer popular, becomes infrequently used, or worse, is no longer supported. It also doesn't help you if you want to branch out into things that Java/SQL/JS/Python don't really support that well. It also won't help you if you switch focus mid-career, which people often do, from say web development to embedded systems. No one sane is claiming that every programmer needs to know as many APIs as possible, but knowing they exist and being able to quickly find information on them is probably a requirement as you progress in your career. SO is a good place to spin up on things IMO. Is it the best way? I don't know - but it's helped me out a lot, and not for the purposes of cutting and pasting code snippets. It has literally helped me learn, syntax, paradigms, etc. in languages I use infrequently.

forgetsusername 11y ago

>My college classmates are doing fine in their job search So they're fresh out of college with nil professional experience and very little life-experience? Pretty presumptuous for them to be passing on advice to "senior devs".

ehnto 11y ago

I got a job because I knew Java, I have worked in the industry for just 8 years. I have had to learn PHP, Ruby, Javascript, Python, CSS, LESS, SASS, Angluar, React, Zend, Magento, Wordpress (begrudgingly), OpenCart, ZendCart, Prestashop, MySQL, Postgres, NoSQL, Redis, Memcached, PHPUnit, TDD, UDD, Agile, SCRUM, half a dozen variations on the agile process, Laravel, CakePHP, CodeIgnitor and probably many more that just aren't popping into my head right now. Then a bunch of different programming paradigms mixed in with that. The reason? It is very rare that anyone works on one, pristinely maintained product small enough to be encapsulated in just a few technologies, for their entire career. If you're at an agency, you're working with whatever the client walks in the door with, unless you can convince them to do a rewrite in your tools of choice. The work will be varied in quality, scope and complexity. Old or new, the technology stack is probably a mix match of whatever the architect thought was right at the time, and then whatever the subsequent senior devs from each new agency the project has been at decides should replace it (or more likely, some of it) If you're not at an agency, you could be at a startup. They're notorious for trendsetting technologies, but not many startups stick around and those that last probably move through a few iterations of their technology stack on their journey to a stable product. If you're a cog in one of the tech behemoths, you probably have the best bet of staying with one stack. But not even they stand still on technology, and whilst you might be writing in the same language, you will have to interface with the different technologies popping in and out of existence around you. The reason so many frameworks and technologies come and go isn't just because new things show up and people like shiny things, but old things often stop being maintained. Especially in open source. They don't make it, and so you can't use them anymore. That's why people were so angry that Angular is getting a rewrite. It's a javascript framework that was supposed to have longevity, because it was backed by Google. People could build companies upon it and know that it wouldn't change, and they did. Then Angular pulled the rug from underneath them, and there are now codebases made completely redundant and unable to move forward on the back of Angular without rewriting in the new Angular. But they can't even do that, because the new Angular wasn't out yet, but their stuff is already defunct. So they move to the new hotness. React sounds pretty cool right? Let's hope that lasts. TL:DR; The real world is messy, you will tumble out of the software development pipeline with SQL tech in your hair, Unit Tests under your nails and the dust of the many fallen JS frameworks in your eyes.