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I'm torn. I don't think the aim should be "become a ${framework} developer" but just become a solid programmer with specialization in front-end technologies. If

I'm torn. I don't think the aim should be "become a ${framework} developer" but just become a solid programmer with specialization in front-end technologies. If I needed to bounce out of front-end and into another tech role, I wouldn't have too hard of a time because I'm familiar with more than Javascript (I started learning programming with Ruby and Rails, but got my first professional gig doing analytics/seo). I feel like this is a more compelling tech tree (not mine): https://github.com/kamranahmedse/developer-roadmap https://github.com/kamranahmedse/developer-roadmap

reificator 8y ago
> become a solid programmer with specialization in front-end technologies. Sure. In this case I would write that as "Software Developer with experience in Javascript, HTML, CSS, and React". Well... You could probably replace that with "Frontend Developer with experience in React". Except that React is a frontend framework, so you might as well simplify that as "React Developer". And now we're back where we started.
- andrewmcwatters 8y ago
  Nope, no, nah you really can't. I know React developers who do not know fundamental Web APIs. Selling yourself as a "React Developer" has connotations to me; subtlety in all aspects of life has repercussions.
robertAngst 8y ago
Heck, I feel like once you are a programmer, you are a programmer. Even after a decade of programming, it still takes me a few days to learn new concepts/libraries. My thing is, if you already know it, copy paste and edit. If you dont know it, build the code for the first time. I feel like this is the difference between a 10 year programmer and 2 year programmer. I have the foundation for sql databases, so it would take me mere moments to write a new full stack if I already had the code.
- RussianCow 8y ago
  This is true to some extent, but sometimes you really do need a specialist. Some fields, such as databases and machine learning, are deep enough that there is a huge difference between someone learning it on the job and someone who has been doing it for 10 years.
  - amorphid 8y ago
    I think it also might be easier to get interviews and job offers for specialist positions where there's less demand. I'm not prepared to make a strong case for that, but I did feel like selling myself as a Ruby on Rails developer made certain portions of technical interviewing a lot more straight forward than when I was interviewing for "I'm a software engineer" roles. Just a feeling.

reificator 8y ago

> become a solid programmer with specialization in front-end technologies. Sure. In this case I would write that as "Software Developer with experience in Javascript, HTML, CSS, and React". Well... You could probably replace that with "Frontend Developer with experience in React". Except that React is a frontend framework, so you might as well simplify that as "React Developer". And now we're back where we started.

andrewmcwatters 8y ago
Nope, no, nah you really can't. I know React developers who do not know fundamental Web APIs. Selling yourself as a "React Developer" has connotations to me; subtlety in all aspects of life has repercussions.

robertAngst 8y ago

Heck, I feel like once you are a programmer, you are a programmer. Even after a decade of programming, it still takes me a few days to learn new concepts/libraries. My thing is, if you already know it, copy paste and edit. If you dont know it, build the code for the first time. I feel like this is the difference between a 10 year programmer and 2 year programmer. I have the foundation for sql databases, so it would take me mere moments to write a new full stack if I already had the code.

RussianCow 8y ago
This is true to some extent, but sometimes you really do need a specialist. Some fields, such as databases and machine learning, are deep enough that there is a huge difference between someone learning it on the job and someone who has been doing it for 10 years.
- amorphid 8y ago
  I think it also might be easier to get interviews and job offers for specialist positions where there's less demand. I'm not prepared to make a strong case for that, but I did feel like selling myself as a Ruby on Rails developer made certain portions of technical interviewing a lot more straight forward than when I was interviewing for "I'm a software engineer" roles. Just a feeling.