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Is being a niche language developer good for your career?

8 points by nickb 19y ago

gruseom 19y ago
It's not programming in a niche language that's limiting his options. It's assuming that he has to "be" a niche language developer and "focus" on one thing. Saying I am a Ruby developer in that sense is like saying I am a hammer carpenter. Good programmers learn new languages easily, and specialization is the wrong approach to apply here.
- davidw 19y ago
  It depends: That guy's more likely to get a job where they need a Ruby developer. Maybe I'm more likely to get a job when they need someone to do X Y and Z and they think they'd like to use Ruby, but use other languages for other things, too.
  - Goladus 19y ago
    It depends even more. If I were looking for a Ruby developer, I'd hire a guy who could write an optimizing compiler for Javascript in C and had never used Ruby than someone who only knew Ruby; even if they knew Ruby pretty well. If you are going to become a Ruby Language Lawyer, then you'll probably get the best compensation and find the most rewarding work at a limited number of companies; but in the process of learning a language well enough to be called a language lawyer it's almost impossible not to become proficient in other languages as well. I'd argue that if you don't know anything but Ruby, you're most likely not a Ruby expert.
    - cstejerean 19y ago
      I'm not sure if I agree. Sometimes what a company really needs is an EXPERT in their field. Generally smart people can of course learn any subject matter but a) you'll need resources to coach them and b) they'll write mediocre code for a very long time. Any smart Java developer can learn Ruby but for a long time they'll be writing Java code in Ruby. It takes a while longer to become adept with Ruby and start writing Ruby code like a pro. And sometimes you just don't have the resources or the time so you need to hire candidates that have expertise in the right area.
      - davidw 19y ago
        Sure - that was basically my original point - if all else is equal, in some cases, they're going to hire the guy who has more expertise in a given technology.
      - Goladus 19y ago
        Any smart Java developer can learn Ruby but for a long time they'll be writing Java code in Ruby. It takes a while longer to become adept with Ruby and start writing Ruby code like a pro. I'm not talking about "any smart Java developer," I'm talking about a top-quality hacker that really understands computers. From a hiring perspective, it may be hard to tell the difference between a great hacker who solves big problems and a Ruby Pro who can only write effectively in Ruby. But it's the truth. A programmer who really understands the inner workings of a system and the point of high-level languages shouldn't have any problem learning to use Ruby effectively in a very short period of time with minimal coaching(No more coaching than you'd likely need to do anyway, if you're planning to actually integrate his code). If you're trying to plan your own career, "should I become a niche developer?" is the wrong question to be asking, unless you have failed an attempt to become a great hacker and aren't interested in trying again.
        akkartik 19y ago
        Yup. The good developer may not know all the idioms in ruby. But that will have negligible impact on his productivity or the quality of the code he writes.
- Goladus 19y ago
  To be fair, languages are far more complicated than hammers. It's a log harder to become good at learning new languages than it is to become good at learning new woodworking tools. It is true that in both cases, the better you understand the nature of the problem the easier it is to see the purpose of a given tool and learn to use it effectively.

8 points by nickb 19y ago

It's not programming in a niche language that's limiting his options. It's assuming that he has to "be" a niche language developer and "focus" on one thing. Saying I am a Ruby developer in that sense is like saying I am a hammer carpenter. Good programmers learn new languages easily, and specialization is the wrong approach to apply here.

davidw 19y ago
It depends: That guy's more likely to get a job where they need a Ruby developer. Maybe I'm more likely to get a job when they need someone to do X Y and Z and they think they'd like to use Ruby, but use other languages for other things, too.
- Goladus 19y ago
  It depends even more. If I were looking for a Ruby developer, I'd hire a guy who could write an optimizing compiler for Javascript in C and had never used Ruby than someone who only knew Ruby; even if they knew Ruby pretty well. If you are going to become a Ruby Language Lawyer, then you'll probably get the best compensation and find the most rewarding work at a limited number of companies; but in the process of learning a language well enough to be called a language lawyer it's almost impossible not to become proficient in other languages as well. I'd argue that if you don't know anything but Ruby, you're most likely not a Ruby expert.
  - cstejerean 19y ago
    I'm not sure if I agree. Sometimes what a company really needs is an EXPERT in their field. Generally smart people can of course learn any subject matter but a) you'll need resources to coach them and b) they'll write mediocre code for a very long time. Any smart Java developer can learn Ruby but for a long time they'll be writing Java code in Ruby. It takes a while longer to become adept with Ruby and start writing Ruby code like a pro. And sometimes you just don't have the resources or the time so you need to hire candidates that have expertise in the right area.
    - davidw 19y ago
      Sure - that was basically my original point - if all else is equal, in some cases, they're going to hire the guy who has more expertise in a given technology.
    - Goladus 19y ago
      Any smart Java developer can learn Ruby but for a long time they'll be writing Java code in Ruby. It takes a while longer to become adept with Ruby and start writing Ruby code like a pro. I'm not talking about "any smart Java developer," I'm talking about a top-quality hacker that really understands computers. From a hiring perspective, it may be hard to tell the difference between a great hacker who solves big problems and a Ruby Pro who can only write effectively in Ruby. But it's the truth. A programmer who really understands the inner workings of a system and the point of high-level languages shouldn't have any problem learning to use Ruby effectively in a very short period of time with minimal coaching(No more coaching than you'd likely need to do anyway, if you're planning to actually integrate his code). If you're trying to plan your own career, "should I become a niche developer?" is the wrong question to be asking, unless you have failed an attempt to become a great hacker and aren't interested in trying again.
      - akkartik 19y ago
        Yup. The good developer may not know all the idioms in ruby. But that will have negligible impact on his productivity or the quality of the code he writes.
Goladus 19y ago
To be fair, languages are far more complicated than hammers. It's a log harder to become good at learning new languages than it is to become good at learning new woodworking tools. It is true that in both cases, the better you understand the nature of the problem the easier it is to see the purpose of a given tool and learn to use it effectively.