Prologue
I wrote this blog five years ago when I was a junior developer. The tips I shared back then are still rules I follow today and ...
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Love the post.
I think in today's day and age it is politically incorrect to push the ideas of bringing work home or practicing programming on your off time.
But it is very true that the best way to get better at programming is to put in the time. There are no shortcuts.
Yes its your choice.
Loving your job is crucial for continuous improvement in programming.
Being a generalist helps you become a versatile problem solver. Always stay curious and keep learning new technologies, as this will ensure you remain adaptable and innovative in a fast-changing landscape like IT.
Thanks for sharing this!
Antonio, CEO & Founder at Litlyx
Correct one of my mantras
Jack of all trades, master of none.
"Frontend developer" is not a box, it's already an extensive variety of ever-changing technologies. And I believe there's need for specialists and generalists both.
No offence to anyone, and I'm sure one can find plenty of counter examples, but:
-- I've seen a number of truly awful frontends inside and out, created and maintained by fullstack devs, which I think would have been much better if f/e and b/e were done separately.
Love what you do, do what you love. I think there's nothing wrong with being particularly talented in, say, databases, or frontend, and loving specific parts of sofware development. If I love something more, and I am better in it, why not specialise in it?..
I appreciate your perspective and understand where you're coming from. There's definitely value in specializing, and I agree that specialists and generalists both have their place in the industry.
However, I'd like to offer a counterpoint. There is no harm in specializing in a stack, but it's generally a better idea to learn everything you can. By broadening your knowledge, you get a better understanding of the whole system when presented with a new project. This doesn't mean you can't specialize while being a generalist.
When you have a broad understanding, you can avoid blind spots and pick up new things more easily. This holistic approach can make you a better developer overall. You still have the option to specialize deeply in one area, but the general knowledge helps you understand and integrate different parts of the system more effectively.
Ultimately, it's about balance. Specializing can make you an expert in one area, but being a generalist can make you a versatile problem solver who can adapt to various challenges. Both paths have their merits, and the best choice depends on your personal goals and interests.
As I said, I've seen a number of truly awful frontends inside (the code) and out (visuals), created and passionately maintained by fullstack devs, and exactly because they are generalists as you call it.
Say we're building a ship. Oh, wouldn't it be nice if the same guys who build the engines also design and build the upper decks. Two for the price of one. Right? 🤑 You pay one person to do both jobs...
No, you cannot have your cake and eat it. To specialise, you spend a lot of time, you build a lot of experience. Some people think a fullstack developer is a frontend developer + a backend developer, all in one: that's not correct, imho.
Say, you get the same application built twice: once by 2 generalists (2 fullstack), and once by 2 specialists (1 f/e, 1b/e), with the same time and money. I think the immediate quality of the result as well as the maintainability (=long term) will be significantly different.
((One specific example I'd like to give, which I think happens in so many projects run by "generalists": because they don't have enough skills and experience in, and they don't feel comfortable enough with, HTML and CSS (and Javascript perhaps), they turn to using 3rd party UI utility libraries instead, and end up with lower quality code, visuals, performance and maintainability. Which is probably a somewhat contraversial claim.))
Perhaps we have somewhat different experiences and views there... which is a good thing 🙂
You are so right! It is good to know a bit of everything, so that things don't sound too foreign but also good to have a specialization, to have a skill that you really can do well and put time and love on it, and not just doing things half way because you have to do front end, back end, and other things at the same time. the result can be a blob
Just spread your wings and fail forward if necessary but never give up.. my personal advise here is unfortunately in this field there is a lot of toxic people that can effect your progress, please 🙏 continue and don't lose your confidence about yourself.
Good that you bring that up. A lot of toxicity in so many workplaces, and not enough mutual support. There should be much more focus on that. Animosity towards other developers.
And yes, toxicity is not just an abstract concept, it is toxic people, toxic actions. People should be talking and writing more about that.
:)
Just found this blog that emphasises on the points about tinkering and generalist linkedin.com/pulse/common-trait-ac...
Thank you, Mr RAM. I just need one more of you to complete my setup
Great post.
I must say as a founder and lead technician I started making fantastic products when I practically forced myself to start relaxing and taking intentional breaks.
👏
Top, very nice !
Thanks for sharing
Perfect....!
I got a lot of tips & guidance in this post.
Thanks for sharing.
"Own the product, not just your tasks." 👍
This is so direct. Thank you for this.
the prime's video you have linked is going to youtube's history feed 🤓
Thanks for the correction
"recently watched a video of ThePrimagen hat inspired me to write this blog." *that
Thanks for the correction
Love the post it was a good read you should think about putting your stuff in prime's subreddit for him to react to it. Wish to learn more from you 👊🏼
I mean it would be very shameful of me to put my blog on primes subreddit people should find it valuable and share, if they find it valuable.
Thanks for sharing,
It's inspiring specialy for junior like me, i also developing products for the company I've been working and loving my work, provides me new ideas to develop my own products.
Nice post man. Thanks for sharing it.
Thank you
beautiful, concise, and very important post. thank you for sharing.
Nice post
Thank you
Thanks, for the great post
I agree with every single point. Great Insights!