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1. Learn something, be really good at it. Have demonstrable experience in that thing. 2. Learn a handful of things a little bit less well. Diversify your learn

1. Learn something, be really good at it. Have demonstrable experience in that thing. 2. Learn a handful of things a little bit less well. Diversify your learnings. Some database stuff, some devops stuff, maybe some game stuff, network stuff, whatever. Try to have demonstrable experience in this stuff well. 3. In 3-5 years, repeat step 1 and 2. Do this over and over and you'll be competitive in tech indefinitely. It doesn't really matter what you pick to be good at or care about, something current (but not bleeding edge), and then dabble in a bunch of other current technologies and tools. In general, don't worry about things like project management. Every company bastardizes any written practice, and every company is very different. Just do what your employer does, and then if you find a new employer, do what they do. Maybe have some opinions and reflect on what you liked and didn't like, because employers might pretend to care what you think about processes and improvements, but it's really all just buzzword nonsense. Regardless of what you pretend, it's all going to go how it's going to go. r.e. "metas" - Play around with stuff. Spend some time reading about TDD, maybe give it a shot every now and then. Understand why it's good and understand why it's bad. Stay away from "never"s and "always"s. As I write this, I realize you're already doing half of what I'm suggesting, which is just to pay attention to the industry and the comings and goings of tech/tools. The other half is to learn and get interested in various pieces of tech. If it feels "cumbersome", it might just not be the right career path for you. That's totally okay - the work you're doing now is totally fine! Do what you like. Don't force stuff you don't like. Most of the successful programmers I know think that toying with a new language or tool is fun/interesting. It doesn't feel cumbersome because it's both a job and a hobby.

kqr 5y ago
> In general, don't worry about things like project management. I agree with most of what you say but this sounds like terrible advice. Fixing bugs in software is cheaper the earlier they are fixed. Cheaper in testing than in prod, cheaper in design than in testing, and so on. The cheapest place to fix them are in the processes that lead to the design. Fixing things in the project management process is a hugely levered activity.
- void_mint 5y ago
  > Fixing things in the project management process is a hugely levered activity. Respectfully, you're absolutely right, but at many many employers dev's opinions on project management doesn't matter and is totally ignored. That's why I say don't worry about it. The devs I've been around that get upset and dogmatic about project management principles just get burnt out faster because employers don't care/won't change. "Don't care" didn't mean "Don't know about", but moreso "Don't get worked up about" or "Don't be strongly opinionated". Of all the hills that exist in software to die on, project management is pretty much the worst one.

kqr 5y ago

> In general, don't worry about things like project management. I agree with most of what you say but this sounds like terrible advice. Fixing bugs in software is cheaper the earlier they are fixed. Cheaper in testing than in prod, cheaper in design than in testing, and so on. The cheapest place to fix them are in the processes that lead to the design. Fixing things in the project management process is a hugely levered activity.

void_mint 5y ago
> Fixing things in the project management process is a hugely levered activity. Respectfully, you're absolutely right, but at many many employers dev's opinions on project management doesn't matter and is totally ignored. That's why I say don't worry about it. The devs I've been around that get upset and dogmatic about project management principles just get burnt out faster because employers don't care/won't change. "Don't care" didn't mean "Don't know about", but moreso "Don't get worked up about" or "Don't be strongly opinionated". Of all the hills that exist in software to die on, project management is pretty much the worst one.