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I got fairly proficient in RoR some years ago. In that I understood most of the magic and was thinking on what is the best ways to design the program for readab

I got fairly proficient in RoR some years ago. In that I understood most of the magic and was thinking on what is the best ways to design the program for readability / maintainability. Then I got good at Java + Spring Then I got good at React + Redux Now I gotta get good at Python + Django and the damn magic it does. Next I gotta get good at Scala. It is frustrating. And I feel that had I spent 10 years in any of those I could really make amazing things in each one. But instead I feel like a generalist. Jack of all trades. And that's just the last 5 years. Before that was dozens of java frameworks, knowing differences between 4 different databases and wielding sql like a master, and more. The worst parts are: - Front-end engineers are looked down upon while I LOVE coding in React + Redux + ES6js. Wish it was TypeScript. - React changes damn near daily. - I really want to deeeeeeep dive in a tech but I feel lots of FOMO that if I don't study a hot new tech I'm screwed. (Except Vue. Vue is the same paradigm as Backbone / Ember) - I have a kid, time is limited to learn new languages.

ninjakeyboard 8y ago
IMO You don't need to specialize on a language or famework, but a problem domain, either technical (eg distributed systems, machine learning) or not (manufacturing, video, etc). It's better to be a good programmer that's deeply experienced in a domain, then a great scala developer that doesn't understand the domains he's working in. I'm more in the distributed space so I know elixir and scala very well with actor model and distributed coordination tools in my toolbelt. I'm not the best scala engineer but I can get shit done and it will be correct and work through all of the pathological conditions because I've seen a lot in this area. If you asked me to build a webpage I'd fall apart but I'm good at that specialization and have all of the tools I need to work with the technology I know today, and to build on to learn whatever technology is needed tomorrow (eg I've been working with elixir for a year but I'm extremely proficient at it because of my 6 years of akka experience)
- Justsignedup 8y ago
  A fair point. At this point picking up front-end technologies is a thing I can fairly easily to. React was definitely hard because it was a different paradigm, but once I got over the hump, I'm solving the same problems as before.
remoteorbust 8y ago
I promise you. If you ignore the churn and learn the fundamentals, your skills will have an order of magnitude longer shelf life. If you know js and web standards then anything on the frontend is just a new application of the same ideas. If you know a bit of networking and a bit of operating systems then web development in python/django/Scala are all just interesting new ways to say basically the same thing. If you know the specs then you don't need to find out about technology by following 100 different blogs. Occasionally there will be new fundamentals to learn but you'll be ready because you won't have a backlog of relearning framework X's new way of saying "hello, world".

ninjakeyboard 8y ago

IMO You don't need to specialize on a language or famework, but a problem domain, either technical (eg distributed systems, machine learning) or not (manufacturing, video, etc). It's better to be a good programmer that's deeply experienced in a domain, then a great scala developer that doesn't understand the domains he's working in. I'm more in the distributed space so I know elixir and scala very well with actor model and distributed coordination tools in my toolbelt. I'm not the best scala engineer but I can get shit done and it will be correct and work through all of the pathological conditions because I've seen a lot in this area. If you asked me to build a webpage I'd fall apart but I'm good at that specialization and have all of the tools I need to work with the technology I know today, and to build on to learn whatever technology is needed tomorrow (eg I've been working with elixir for a year but I'm extremely proficient at it because of my 6 years of akka experience)

Justsignedup 8y ago
A fair point. At this point picking up front-end technologies is a thing I can fairly easily to. React was definitely hard because it was a different paradigm, but once I got over the hump, I'm solving the same problems as before.

remoteorbust 8y ago

I promise you. If you ignore the churn and learn the fundamentals, your skills will have an order of magnitude longer shelf life. If you know js and web standards then anything on the frontend is just a new application of the same ideas. If you know a bit of networking and a bit of operating systems then web development in python/django/Scala are all just interesting new ways to say basically the same thing. If you know the specs then you don't need to find out about technology by following 100 different blogs. Occasionally there will be new fundamentals to learn but you'll be ready because you won't have a backlog of relearning framework X's new way of saying "hello, world".