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> I didn't want to be stuck in my 40s-50s with a unless skillset and have to start back from the beginning. This is absolutely nonsensical. In 20 years no one

> I didn't want to be stuck in my 40s-50s with a unless skillset and have to start back from the beginning. This is absolutely nonsensical. In 20 years no one will remember about NodeJS (or it will not be the mainstream tool for web dev), but the C++ CAD application will definitely still be here, in both use and active development, and it will very likely still be in C++. Just think about it. The last C++ CAD application I worked in was started in 1987. In 2023 it was still C++, and not only still sellable, but also incredibly profitable. They are practically a monopoly in their target market. A market which is highly likely to continue to exist for the next century or so. How did NodeJS look like in 1987 ? A single skillset that can carry for 30years+ in computing is _nothing_ to scoff at.

janalsncm 4y ago
The basic fact that the current internet uses so much NodeJS means that in 20 years it will continue to be in-demand.
- AshamedCaptain 4y ago
  Any luck finding Perl CGI webdev jobs these days? (I'm sure there are. I hope the point is clear, though).
  - kjksf 4y ago
    In the context of this discussion Perl is an exception that proves the rule. There are no Perl jobs because Perl was supplanted by Python and Ruby and embarked on a disastrous Perl 6 journey. This will not happen to node. JavaScript is and will continue to be for the next 10 years the most popular programming language ("popular" == "most jobs") because it has monopoly in the browser. As a result JavaScript will continue to be used in other domains (backend, desktop, mobile) due to sheer number of JavaScript programmers. Quantity is a quality of its own. So node (and deno and bun) will continue to be used and there will be plenty of jobs for JavaScript programmers ("node" programmer is 90% JavaScript programmer and 10% "node specific APIs" programmer). Of all programming languages that you worry might disappear in the future, JavaScript is at the end of the list.
- dekhn 4y ago
  Vinyl records outlasted CDs. Some technologies, even if they are popular today, die a death of slow attrition. There may be demand, but it's niche (like COBOL today). C (and C++) will remain popular for a longer time for a number of reasons; after all, under the hood NodeJS is a C program right? Because it's the most useful portable macro assembler anybody has invented, and it forms the basis of nearly every higher-level system.
spoiler 4y ago
You're conflating runtime and language. I doubt JS or TS will go away anytime soon, seeing as they power the Web. Sure, there will be ways to augment them and the languages evolved since what they used to be, but I don't think they'll "die"
- krisoft 4y ago
  > I doubt JS or TS will go away anytime soon, seeing as they power the Web. We have a Javascript interpreter orbiting around the L2 Lagrange point.[1] Safe to say that will remain there even if our culture down here on Earth collapses. As far as cultural artefacts go that one will probably survive all of us. 1: https://www.stsci.edu/~idash/pub/dashevsky0607rcsgso.pdf https://www.stsci.edu/~idash/pub/dashevsky0607rcsgso.pdf section 3.1
- AshamedCaptain 4y ago
  I am not conflating, just replying to OP. Anyway, even if you do want to talk about web dev in general... how did web dev look in 1987, again? The mere fact that you are listing languages that are only a decade or so old in your statement should be a rather large hint that web development is a much faster moving target, and highly unlikely to still be recognizable in a couple decades.
mywittyname 4y ago
To be clear, my thought process was something like this: I have useful skills that I can use to leverage into another job right now. In a year, those skills will be slightly irrelevant, in two years, those skills will be very irrelevant, etc. Basically, the longer I stayed there, the less likely I was to be able to get another job based on my current skillset. Three jobs later, I don't do NodeJS development anymore. I leveraged my skillset to get a GCP consulting gig and now I work for a startup where I use my expertise to get new products off the ground. If I decided to leave tomorrow, I have 1000x more job opportunities as a GCP consultant than I would as a C++ developer. My goal is to keep learning the tools that will give me the best job opportunities. Some people want to be experts in a niche area. But I want to have the most job opportunities available to me. One is not better than the other, but I think more people share my outlook. A new developer today could make an entire career out of doing PHP development for the next 30 years, but would that be an advisable choice of action?

janalsncm 4y ago

The basic fact that the current internet uses so much NodeJS means that in 20 years it will continue to be in-demand.

AshamedCaptain 4y ago
Any luck finding Perl CGI webdev jobs these days? (I'm sure there are. I hope the point is clear, though).
- kjksf 4y ago
  In the context of this discussion Perl is an exception that proves the rule. There are no Perl jobs because Perl was supplanted by Python and Ruby and embarked on a disastrous Perl 6 journey. This will not happen to node. JavaScript is and will continue to be for the next 10 years the most popular programming language ("popular" == "most jobs") because it has monopoly in the browser. As a result JavaScript will continue to be used in other domains (backend, desktop, mobile) due to sheer number of JavaScript programmers. Quantity is a quality of its own. So node (and deno and bun) will continue to be used and there will be plenty of jobs for JavaScript programmers ("node" programmer is 90% JavaScript programmer and 10% "node specific APIs" programmer). Of all programming languages that you worry might disappear in the future, JavaScript is at the end of the list.
dekhn 4y ago
Vinyl records outlasted CDs. Some technologies, even if they are popular today, die a death of slow attrition. There may be demand, but it's niche (like COBOL today). C (and C++) will remain popular for a longer time for a number of reasons; after all, under the hood NodeJS is a C program right? Because it's the most useful portable macro assembler anybody has invented, and it forms the basis of nearly every higher-level system.

spoiler 4y ago

You're conflating runtime and language. I doubt JS or TS will go away anytime soon, seeing as they power the Web. Sure, there will be ways to augment them and the languages evolved since what they used to be, but I don't think they'll "die"

krisoft 4y ago
> I doubt JS or TS will go away anytime soon, seeing as they power the Web. We have a Javascript interpreter orbiting around the L2 Lagrange point.[1] Safe to say that will remain there even if our culture down here on Earth collapses. As far as cultural artefacts go that one will probably survive all of us. 1: https://www.stsci.edu/~idash/pub/dashevsky0607rcsgso.pdf https://www.stsci.edu/~idash/pub/dashevsky0607rcsgso.pdf section 3.1
AshamedCaptain 4y ago
I am not conflating, just replying to OP. Anyway, even if you do want to talk about web dev in general... how did web dev look in 1987, again? The mere fact that you are listing languages that are only a decade or so old in your statement should be a rather large hint that web development is a much faster moving target, and highly unlikely to still be recognizable in a couple decades.

mywittyname 4y ago

To be clear, my thought process was something like this: I have useful skills that I can use to leverage into another job right now. In a year, those skills will be slightly irrelevant, in two years, those skills will be very irrelevant, etc. Basically, the longer I stayed there, the less likely I was to be able to get another job based on my current skillset. Three jobs later, I don't do NodeJS development anymore. I leveraged my skillset to get a GCP consulting gig and now I work for a startup where I use my expertise to get new products off the ground. If I decided to leave tomorrow, I have 1000x more job opportunities as a GCP consultant than I would as a C++ developer. My goal is to keep learning the tools that will give me the best job opportunities. Some people want to be experts in a niche area. But I want to have the most job opportunities available to me. One is not better than the other, but I think more people share my outlook. A new developer today could make an entire career out of doing PHP development for the next 30 years, but would that be an advisable choice of action?