3 ms·

Seems like you have a distorted view of the current programming environment. The skills you list are used in a tiny minority of ycombinator-like startups, few o

by nickpp 17y ago

Seems like you have a distorted view of the current programming environment. The skills you list are used in a tiny minority of ycombinator-like startups, few of them making money. The real world still runs on Java, C++, .NET and PHP. And SQL. Lots and lots of SQL.

bilbo0s 17y ago
You've missed the point of my post entirely. Perhaps I wasn't clear enough. The point is that all of the skills you just listed will be obsolete eventually. To say they will not be obsolete is to bury one's head in the sand. The question is, if all skills will be obsolete then what are people to do except be flexible?
- houseabsolute 17y ago
  Being adaptable is really important, you are absolutely right. But there's a difference here too. Learning one language in programming is just a particular skill that itself might become obsolete. But the discipline will not, at least not soon. On the other hand, learning to produce journalistic content does become kind of silly when the demand for the entire discipline is decreasing rapidly. It's still possible to adapt to new skills, but it's more difficult because the other skills are further away.
- pyre 17y ago
  > The point is that all of the skills you just listed will be obsolete eventually. To say they will not be obsolete is to bury one's head in the sand. 'Eventually' could be 50 years from now. You're making unqualified statements. You also mentioned in your original post that the time between skills being in demand and obsolete is getting smaller and smaller, but you're real-world 'examples' of this don't work. Maybe it's just me but when you say something like 'smaller and smaller' you imply that soon it will be so small as to be non-existent and the speed at which is shrinking is increasing (i.e. exponentially decreasing interval). If that is what you're implying then I have a hard time seeing how a job market could work where the skills of last year are no longer in demand this year because companies have switch all of their projects over from Java -> Scala and next year they are going to change all their projects from Scala -> SomethingElse. {edit} You said 'quicker and quicker', so my comments still hold but need to be read with the view of exponentially increasing speed (which implies a 'short and short' time interval between).

by nickpp 17y ago

bilbo0s 17y ago

You've missed the point of my post entirely. Perhaps I wasn't clear enough. The point is that all of the skills you just listed will be obsolete eventually. To say they will not be obsolete is to bury one's head in the sand. The question is, if all skills will be obsolete then what are people to do except be flexible?

houseabsolute 17y ago
Being adaptable is really important, you are absolutely right. But there's a difference here too. Learning one language in programming is just a particular skill that itself might become obsolete. But the discipline will not, at least not soon. On the other hand, learning to produce journalistic content does become kind of silly when the demand for the entire discipline is decreasing rapidly. It's still possible to adapt to new skills, but it's more difficult because the other skills are further away.
pyre 17y ago
> The point is that all of the skills you just listed will be obsolete eventually. To say they will not be obsolete is to bury one's head in the sand. 'Eventually' could be 50 years from now. You're making unqualified statements. You also mentioned in your original post that the time between skills being in demand and obsolete is getting smaller and smaller, but you're real-world 'examples' of this don't work. Maybe it's just me but when you say something like 'smaller and smaller' you imply that soon it will be so small as to be non-existent and the speed at which is shrinking is increasing (i.e. exponentially decreasing interval). If that is what you're implying then I have a hard time seeing how a job market could work where the skills of last year are no longer in demand this year because companies have switch all of their projects over from Java -> Scala and next year they are going to change all their projects from Scala -> SomethingElse. {edit} You said 'quicker and quicker', so my comments still hold but need to be read with the view of exponentially increasing speed (which implies a 'short and short' time interval between).