We're all developers. However, some of us have chosen to specialize in game development or web development or mobile, etc. Why and when did you know that you wanted to focus on your particular area?
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I knew early on that I wanted to go straight into web development. The thought of deploying some code and having an immediate reach of billions of people excited me (and still does). On top of that, I love creating user experiences that help people accomplish one task or another. The combination of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript make creating those experiences really easy.
Web development was my into to software development, and I’ve remained so drawn to the abstract potential of all the things you can do with HTML, CSS, JavaScript along with enabling web connectivity platforms like Google and social media etc.
I nibble with some deeper specialization and other formats like native consumer apps etc. But web is still my favorite canvas. Within this area, I kind of specialized in Ruby on Rails and that’s mostly because it’s the tool I happened to get good with. If I settled into this industry earlier or later I could have gotten into PHP or Node.
Still don’t feel sure I’ll be in the same space in a few years. Nibbling on Rust, just looking for some use cases and/or aha moments. 😅
I did end up with PHP, mostly because the guys I graduated with were already using it. Have only taken a small look at Ruby, Elixir, and (most recently) ASP.NET Core. Time is my biggest setback currently, but I would probably be trying to learn more of either Elixir or ASP.NET Core if I had more time.
Yeah, I dove straight into .NET Framework because of the internship and job opportunities I had early on. There was a natural leap to .NET Core when that came out, which is what I primarily use now for work.
However, I've been doing A LOT of Node work lately. It's just so easy to bootstrap a prototype and get something visual quickly.
I got into C/C++ embedded development out of college. I got my degree in CS and thought the idea of creating software with potentially extreme hardware limitations was an interesting way to explore ways of making things efficient. I work for a place that does work on next generation vehicles now and the challenges everyday are what get me excited to get out of bed in the morning.
I knew I wanted to go into web development when I realized I could write some code and see immediate results. It made web development seem very easy to approach for a newbie (and of course I'm referring to the interpreted languages).
Of course now I still do prefer web, especially since I can make the UI basically however I want to. But I also understand there are benefits to using back-end languages that compile. But now I may not have time enough to dive into them either. 🤷
Oh, let me add that being a developer means that I'm unlikely to break something physical that would then need to be replaced (unlike if I were a computer technician). Lol
That immediate feedback is what drew me in as well!
Specializing on application integration is tricky, but I love it. You're actually not specializing on a language or framework, but on keeping the whole infrastructure under control (~keeping the shit together). A good way to start is working on (message-oriented-) middleware. There you get to know the complete infrastructure of your company, which can be really huge in enterprises (> 400 server applications). The job is very versatile. One day you're a java backend developer focusing on scaling issues of the ERP system, the next day you're in the role of an architect, designing the company's new payments platform. So you're also talking with business departments about their requirements and later you present your ideas to management in order to get their approval.
Beware - sometimes the hustle and bustle can get too much, especially when someone has a hidden agenda and politics comes into play. I hate those days.
Whole different set of challenges for sure.. especially when it comes to keeping everything online and recovering data when something fails. Keeps things exciting!
I'd never really thought i needed to specialize, but as I was pounding my head against modern JS frameworks about 3 years ago, I realized that while I like JavaScript, it wasn't a HUGE passion for me.
I always enjoyed web layout. It was while working on a code test for a front-end developer position that I decided CSS and specifically CSS Layout that were my true niches.
When I had that realization, I felt a sense of relief that let me know it was the right move. I still have learned modern JS frameworks, but I get to focus on what I really enjoy and it's worked out pretty well.
I fell in love with Frontend Development. To me it was the perfect combination between art and engineering. + Having control of what the user sees and feels made me excited to build stuff.
I got some SQL and backend tasks dropped on me early in my career and it turned out I just really like designing databases and queries.
I was a full stack dev, then Docker happened. Since then i try to avoid Backend/DevOps and specialize more into frontend/design.
I decided to specialize in graphics programming because I like the challenge of working within the confines of a low level programming language and the math involved is kinda fun.
This has me intrigued, what sort of projects do you work on? My mind immediately went to games..
Mostly games and small physics simulations.