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> Great software engineers I've known seem to have complete command of all of the ideas, tools, and techniques. They understand their tools "all the way down to

> Great software engineers I've known seem to have complete command of all of the ideas, tools, and techniques. They understand their tools "all the way down to the metal" and all the way "up to the esthetics". You can see great people in all crafts (like woodworking). Do people like this exist today? I mean, the complexity at every level in the stack seems to have grown exponentially(maybe?) for decades. Are there engineers who are experts covering every layer across modern hardware architecture, CPU instruction sets, modern operating system architecture, cybersecurity, networking protocols, web technology, database systems, file systems, cloud infrastructure, quality control, Data Science, AI, AR, VR, Machine learning, UI framework design, wireless interfaces, etc. And that's all before you even consider the non-technical skills of software engineering. The bar moves higher every day and I'm not sure this level of expertise is achievable/maintainable.

wrnr 6y ago
You make a mockery of the original statement, if you focus on YOUR stack (not just any) then yes with a bit of focus it should be possible, but you need to stop learning yet another JS framework.
- bottled_poe 6y ago
  I ain't mockin nuffin.
- myth_drannon 6y ago
  The thing is that even if you stick with one framework it changes. ReactJS/Redux is different from what it was 4 years ago.
hvidgaard 6y ago
You don't have to excel at every layer. If you understand the basics of every layer, you're so far ahead in the game that you might as well be a magician.
myth_drannon 6y ago
Never met one. I met many that looked very talented but once the stack changed they were completely fish out of the water. But they were very productive with what they knew, but at some point they got tired or didn't have enough time to reach again the same level of mastery. I'm talking mostly about web/UI work.

wrnr 6y ago

You make a mockery of the original statement, if you focus on YOUR stack (not just any) then yes with a bit of focus it should be possible, but you need to stop learning yet another JS framework.

bottled_poe 6y ago
I ain't mockin nuffin.
myth_drannon 6y ago
The thing is that even if you stick with one framework it changes. ReactJS/Redux is different from what it was 4 years ago.

hvidgaard 6y ago

You don't have to excel at every layer. If you understand the basics of every layer, you're so far ahead in the game that you might as well be a magician.

myth_drannon 6y ago

Never met one. I met many that looked very talented but once the stack changed they were completely fish out of the water. But they were very productive with what they knew, but at some point they got tired or didn't have enough time to reach again the same level of mastery. I'm talking mostly about web/UI work.