Hey Lynne. Great read. A lot of developers feel this same anxiety. If you haven't already, check out The Great Divide by Chris Coyier (css-tricks.com/the-great-divide/).
I don't think it's useless to split front from back. We're developers, we separate concerns. Front end means client side in my opinion. We're concerned with the client, or what the user directly interacts with.
I think the core of this anxiety has grown from the lack of knowledge in hiring processes. Companies love to hire someone who can wear multiple hats instead of multiple people with 'specializations'. From that, Back end, Front end, and Full stack have arisen. Full stack and back end is blurred/confused with architects, dev ops, and admins. Front end is confused/blurred with Full stack and UI/UX design. UI/UX designers are now being blurred/confused with Front end developers. There is a need to have an understanding of the different disciplines, but actually EXECUTING the work requires a specialized focus in my opinion. Cross-discipline collaboration is best when individual specialists are collaborating - not when one individual is expected to work cross-discipline.
Again, it comes down to the problems with how companies are hiring, and then it just snow balls out to headhunters and agencies, and then again to developers who are just trying to give themselves the best chance of being employable.
Look at this job description I just found in 5 seconds with Google for a 'Front end/UI Developer':
Preference would be given to candidates with:
Experience with .NET/c#/ASP.NET MVC
Experience with JavaScript and Front-End Frameworks (such as React.js)
General knowledge of e-commerce, marketing, and advertising is a plus
Thanks for your reply! I have read The Great Divide by Chris Coyier, and it's a great in-depth look at these issues.
I wanted to get the Dev.to community's thoughts, discussion, and experiences on this as it is all so varied.
From my experience (and I'd hope it's the same for others), it's not as big an issue when you've been with a company for a while and they respect you, listen to you, and can recognise where your skills are and how to get the best from you. But I'd imagine, and I might be wrong of course, that it would be a bit of a nightmare for a junior dev right now who isn't quite as sure of what they are capable of yet. Trying to find work with such a variable job spec.
I think the best companies can do for now is be more up front about what they actually require you for when recruiting, and what specific skills are key to the role.
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Hey Lynne. Great read. A lot of developers feel this same anxiety. If you haven't already, check out The Great Divide by Chris Coyier (css-tricks.com/the-great-divide/).
I don't think it's useless to split front from back. We're developers, we separate concerns. Front end means client side in my opinion. We're concerned with the client, or what the user directly interacts with.
I think the core of this anxiety has grown from the lack of knowledge in hiring processes. Companies love to hire someone who can wear multiple hats instead of multiple people with 'specializations'. From that, Back end, Front end, and Full stack have arisen. Full stack and back end is blurred/confused with architects, dev ops, and admins. Front end is confused/blurred with Full stack and UI/UX design. UI/UX designers are now being blurred/confused with Front end developers. There is a need to have an understanding of the different disciplines, but actually EXECUTING the work requires a specialized focus in my opinion. Cross-discipline collaboration is best when individual specialists are collaborating - not when one individual is expected to work cross-discipline.
Again, it comes down to the problems with how companies are hiring, and then it just snow balls out to headhunters and agencies, and then again to developers who are just trying to give themselves the best chance of being employable.
Look at this job description I just found in 5 seconds with Google for a 'Front end/UI Developer':
Preference would be given to candidates with:
Thanks for your reply! I have read The Great Divide by Chris Coyier, and it's a great in-depth look at these issues.
I wanted to get the Dev.to community's thoughts, discussion, and experiences on this as it is all so varied.
From my experience (and I'd hope it's the same for others), it's not as big an issue when you've been with a company for a while and they respect you, listen to you, and can recognise where your skills are and how to get the best from you. But I'd imagine, and I might be wrong of course, that it would be a bit of a nightmare for a junior dev right now who isn't quite as sure of what they are capable of yet. Trying to find work with such a variable job spec.
I think the best companies can do for now is be more up front about what they actually require you for when recruiting, and what specific skills are key to the role.