I started writing software in 1984. Over the years I worked with many languages, technologies, and tools. I have been in leadership positions since the early 2000s, and in executive roles since 2014.
Thank you for the question, Ben. This could be a 5000 words response, but I'll try to keep it short.
What changed in the industry.
When I started everything was local on the developer's machine, it was very difficult to get documentation and even things like source control management were very primitive. Debugging was mostly done with "printf", and the concept of "production" didn't really exist. Most serious code was written in C, and scripting languages weren't really a thing (with some exceptions for shell scripts.) Everything was done from scratch. I spent a lot of time writing string manipulation functions in the old days.
Today everything is "online", developers have amazing tools, powerful debuggers, and a huge array of libraries and language choices. Scripting languages changed the game, and web development is a large percentage of what coders do, and a good entry point for many programmers.
In the old days, developers were much more "low level". Memory needed to be managed by hand, and memory leaks or buffer out of bound crashing bugs were a real evil pox. I remember when writing C code how it would regularly reboot my machine when I had buffer overrun bugs. Fun times.
What stayed the same
The fundamentals of programming languages are the same, but these days learning frameworks are almost more important. So, coding itself has not changed very much, but the context around coding has shifted dramatically.
Another thing that hasn't change is the passion of developers and their love for technologies.
Is it that learning frameworks is more important or that there's a tendency for people to put a lot more emphasis on them? Additionally would you say that the ability to learn quickly/read a framework and still understand (without knowing the framework) is more important?
I started writing software in 1984. Over the years I worked with many languages, technologies, and tools. I have been in leadership positions since the early 2000s, and in executive roles since 2014.
The tendency is for hiring managers to ask if people are familiar with frameworks. Also frameworks tend to be unruly and not always greatly designed, making them a bit challenging.
The ability to learn quickly is more important once you are on the job. Knowing it is more important when you apply for a job. I know... one of the many contradictions of the industry.
I am generalizing here, and giving a view of what I see in the industry. I personally don't really care very much of expertise with frameworks, but I "grew up" as a developer in the 80's and 90's, so my view probably reflects that time.
For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and/or reporting abuse
We're a place where coders share, stay up-to-date and grow their careers.
Thank you for the question, Ben. This could be a 5000 words response, but I'll try to keep it short.
What changed in the industry.
When I started everything was local on the developer's machine, it was very difficult to get documentation and even things like source control management were very primitive. Debugging was mostly done with "printf", and the concept of "production" didn't really exist. Most serious code was written in C, and scripting languages weren't really a thing (with some exceptions for shell scripts.) Everything was done from scratch. I spent a lot of time writing string manipulation functions in the old days.
Today everything is "online", developers have amazing tools, powerful debuggers, and a huge array of libraries and language choices. Scripting languages changed the game, and web development is a large percentage of what coders do, and a good entry point for many programmers.
In the old days, developers were much more "low level". Memory needed to be managed by hand, and memory leaks or buffer out of bound crashing bugs were a real evil pox. I remember when writing C code how it would regularly reboot my machine when I had buffer overrun bugs. Fun times.
What stayed the same
The fundamentals of programming languages are the same, but these days learning frameworks are almost more important. So, coding itself has not changed very much, but the context around coding has shifted dramatically.
Another thing that hasn't change is the passion of developers and their love for technologies.
Is it that learning frameworks is more important or that there's a tendency for people to put a lot more emphasis on them? Additionally would you say that the ability to learn quickly/read a framework and still understand (without knowing the framework) is more important?
The tendency is for hiring managers to ask if people are familiar with frameworks. Also frameworks tend to be unruly and not always greatly designed, making them a bit challenging.
The ability to learn quickly is more important once you are on the job. Knowing it is more important when you apply for a job. I know... one of the many contradictions of the industry.
I am generalizing here, and giving a view of what I see in the industry. I personally don't really care very much of expertise with frameworks, but I "grew up" as a developer in the 80's and 90's, so my view probably reflects that time.