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> To put this in concrete terms, if we say (just to choose a number) that someone reasonably conscientious with 3-5 years of professional experience behind them

> To put this in concrete terms, if we say (just to choose a number) that someone reasonably conscientious with 3-5 years of professional experience behind them could be proficient with the technical details of current front-end or back-end development, is it really so implausible that someone with 7 years of professional experience behind them could not have developed and maintained similar proficiency with both? Yes. The world doesn't stop spinning so you can learn both. In the time you're focused on one, the other changes. Computer science fundamentals are going to be consistent, but the problem domains of front-end vs. back-end are vast. You can have skills from either, but ultimately either one is complex and wide enough that an individual focused on just one won't master it but merely be more than competent. Also, just keeping track of the tech either side is discarding is enough to fill one mind. Keeping a pulse on useful best practices from multiple domains while the world races forward is no small feat.

Silhouette 6y ago
The world doesn't stop spinning so you can learn both. That is true, but the world seems to spin a lot slower from the right perspective. Most of the "progress" in web development really isn't. Game-changers come along every now and then, but much more rarely than hype. Someone who is already proficient with both front-end and back-end work can easily keep on top of the developments that actually matter. Also, just keeping track of the tech either side is discarding is enough to fill one mind. Keeping a pulse on useful best practices from multiple domains while the world races forward is no small feat. Yes, professional development takes work, and keeping up with technology requires some of your time. But once again, the more you already know, the less any given development is likely to make a profound difference to you, and the more quickly you can scan what's happening and focus in on anything of real interest. For example, on the front-end side, I probably find one or two articles or videos per month that offer some genuinely new insight or understanding. I might find one or even two front-end tools per year that are sufficiently interesting to be worth investigating in more detail and potentially adopting for future work. It's not that I don't read or watch more than that, but I filter ruthlessly and rarely waste time on anything that doesn't have either an immediate benefit or obvious potential. This also means I usually haven't wasted much time on tech that didn't stick around for long. Statistically speaking, I'm probably a more experienced developer than most here, but I make no claim to being unique or superhuman. I imagine there are others reading this discussion whose experience is not so very far from mine.

Silhouette 6y ago

The world doesn't stop spinning so you can learn both. That is true, but the world seems to spin a lot slower from the right perspective. Most of the "progress" in web development really isn't. Game-changers come along every now and then, but much more rarely than hype. Someone who is already proficient with both front-end and back-end work can easily keep on top of the developments that actually matter. Also, just keeping track of the tech either side is discarding is enough to fill one mind. Keeping a pulse on useful best practices from multiple domains while the world races forward is no small feat. Yes, professional development takes work, and keeping up with technology requires some of your time. But once again, the more you already know, the less any given development is likely to make a profound difference to you, and the more quickly you can scan what's happening and focus in on anything of real interest. For example, on the front-end side, I probably find one or two articles or videos per month that offer some genuinely new insight or understanding. I might find one or even two front-end tools per year that are sufficiently interesting to be worth investigating in more detail and potentially adopting for future work. It's not that I don't read or watch more than that, but I filter ruthlessly and rarely waste time on anything that doesn't have either an immediate benefit or obvious potential. This also means I usually haven't wasted much time on tech that didn't stick around for long. Statistically speaking, I'm probably a more experienced developer than most here, but I make no claim to being unique or superhuman. I imagine there are others reading this discussion whose experience is not so very far from mine.