4 ms·

Hmm. Learning a language/framework that is exploding in popularity is probably one of the best things a dev can do to stay relevant (read: employed). Hell, ver

by ryandvm 12y ago

Hmm. Learning a language/framework that is exploding in popularity is probably one of the best things a dev can do to stay relevant (read: employed). Hell, very few of us would be using Javascript if it weren't for it's ubiquity/community/popularity. I sure as hell am not using it because it's a well designed language.

codezero 12y ago
I agree that it's great to learn a language, I was thinking of this as more of an exercise to generate a good post, but it's probably more reasonable to assume he really wanted to learn Go :P
bad_user 12y ago
Quite the contrary, learning a language because it is exploding in popularity is a nice way to ensure that you'll end up being abused, poorly paid and irrelevant. You can't possibly find a worse reason for learning a new language. On Javascript you're missing the causality. Some people are learning Javascript because it is popular of course, because they've read on some forum that learning popular things gets them hired, but those people are totally uninteresting in the pool of developers that learned Javascript because they had shit to do and things to build and Javascript was the answer. There's a big difference between learning X because you want to make your job easier, because you want to build things in a new way, because you want exposure to new ways of thinking, because there isn't an alternative to what you're trying to do, etc... and learning X because that's fashionable. In the former case, it's pretty much a gamble but you might actually get something out of it. In the later case all you're earning is the ability to slap another keyword on a resume that only mediocre HR people care about, being actually a time waist as it's keeping you from learning things that might actually be of interest for the things you're trying to accomplish (other than getting a shitty job of course). Just as people that learned PHP or Java back in the day found out, learning for the sake of getting a job is a sure way to land you a shitty and boring job in which you are replaceable cog. Managers love popular languages and frameworks, of course they do. And the interesting jobs that are out there, that make people happy and that pay well - well, let me tell you, those companies aren't looking for keywords on your resume, but for things that you've actually built. And after some years from now, when you'll be over 40, you'll find yourself either a manager that does LinkedIn searches for keywords, or an obsolete developer that can't find a job because everything you've learned is obsolete and you waisted your time in learning syntax, instead of learning new abstractions, algorithms and mathematics - you know, stuff that never gets old.
- ChrisGaudreau 12y ago
  Personally, I like to learn any language, regardless of how popular it is. It's just fun.
  - holoway 12y ago
    Yeah, I was doing this for fun. I'm pretty secure in my day job. :)
- bjz_ 12y ago
  > Quite the contrary, learning a language because it is exploding in popularity is a nice way to ensure that you'll end up being abused, poorly paid and irrelevant. Because I had the good fortune of starting with Rust early, I now have several foundational libraries under my belt in the Rust ecosystem. This has certainly been of great interest in interviews, and might just lead to me landing a pretty 'hip' internship over the Australian summer. Of course it won't be in Rust, but it's better than being at a hum-drum corporate placement. Being a pioneer definitely sets you apart from other candidates, and also culls the pack of potential employers to those that value curiosity and initiative, and actually care about exploring new ideas.
- LunaSea 12y ago
  By learning new programming languages or frameworks you stand out from the crowd. Guess who's going to get a job: A) The fool who just learned JavaScript and Angular.js B) The university student who only knows Java The answer will be (A) every single time because companies don't have the time to train people for months.
  - codezero 12y ago
    This hasn't been my experience in practice but I guess it depends on what kinds of companies you've worked with. Everywhere I've worked, they hire engineers based on a lot of factors, and it has been more often the case that they'd go for someone who knows a different stack really well, than someone who knows all the newest stacks.
  - 12y ago

by ryandvm 12y ago

codezero 12y ago

I agree that it's great to learn a language, I was thinking of this as more of an exercise to generate a good post, but it's probably more reasonable to assume he really wanted to learn Go :P

bad_user 12y ago

Quite the contrary, learning a language because it is exploding in popularity is a nice way to ensure that you'll end up being abused, poorly paid and irrelevant. You can't possibly find a worse reason for learning a new language. On Javascript you're missing the causality. Some people are learning Javascript because it is popular of course, because they've read on some forum that learning popular things gets them hired, but those people are totally uninteresting in the pool of developers that learned Javascript because they had shit to do and things to build and Javascript was the answer. There's a big difference between learning X because you want to make your job easier, because you want to build things in a new way, because you want exposure to new ways of thinking, because there isn't an alternative to what you're trying to do, etc... and learning X because that's fashionable. In the former case, it's pretty much a gamble but you might actually get something out of it. In the later case all you're earning is the ability to slap another keyword on a resume that only mediocre HR people care about, being actually a time waist as it's keeping you from learning things that might actually be of interest for the things you're trying to accomplish (other than getting a shitty job of course). Just as people that learned PHP or Java back in the day found out, learning for the sake of getting a job is a sure way to land you a shitty and boring job in which you are replaceable cog. Managers love popular languages and frameworks, of course they do. And the interesting jobs that are out there, that make people happy and that pay well - well, let me tell you, those companies aren't looking for keywords on your resume, but for things that you've actually built. And after some years from now, when you'll be over 40, you'll find yourself either a manager that does LinkedIn searches for keywords, or an obsolete developer that can't find a job because everything you've learned is obsolete and you waisted your time in learning syntax, instead of learning new abstractions, algorithms and mathematics - you know, stuff that never gets old.

ChrisGaudreau 12y ago
Personally, I like to learn any language, regardless of how popular it is. It's just fun.
- holoway 12y ago
  Yeah, I was doing this for fun. I'm pretty secure in my day job. :)
bjz_ 12y ago
> Quite the contrary, learning a language because it is exploding in popularity is a nice way to ensure that you'll end up being abused, poorly paid and irrelevant. Because I had the good fortune of starting with Rust early, I now have several foundational libraries under my belt in the Rust ecosystem. This has certainly been of great interest in interviews, and might just lead to me landing a pretty 'hip' internship over the Australian summer. Of course it won't be in Rust, but it's better than being at a hum-drum corporate placement. Being a pioneer definitely sets you apart from other candidates, and also culls the pack of potential employers to those that value curiosity and initiative, and actually care about exploring new ideas.
LunaSea 12y ago
By learning new programming languages or frameworks you stand out from the crowd. Guess who's going to get a job: A) The fool who just learned JavaScript and Angular.js B) The university student who only knows Java The answer will be (A) every single time because companies don't have the time to train people for months.
- codezero 12y ago
  This hasn't been my experience in practice but I guess it depends on what kinds of companies you've worked with. Everywhere I've worked, they hire engineers based on a lot of factors, and it has been more often the case that they'd go for someone who knows a different stack really well, than someone who knows all the newest stacks.
- 12y ago