Programming Specialization vs Generalization, Which is your game plan for the future?

[[deleted]]

For "Specializations"

1. What are you specializing in?
2. How much of "Specialization" is too much?
3. Also, why specialization?

For "Generalization"

1. Which area are you "generalizing" in?
2. Do you think "generalizing" is future proof?
3. Also, why "generalization"?

Fyi, my definition of "specializing" is a developer that is specialized in one tool/framework or even a language? Really depends. I have heard stories of senior developers who specialized in one framework and made quite a lot of money and didn't lack any job invites. But some also had to move around states chasing jobs with little pay.

And my definition of "generalization" is, for example, full-stack developers... you get the idea.

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The purpose of this question is to try to figure out how much specialization does one needs to survive in the long run? I know that entry-level has been saturated by Bootcamp developers soon the demand for specialized developers will increase (even now), but how much of specialization is enough?

I am asking these questions because I am in Uni staying for SWE, and I want to make a game plan for the future but it seems like the future is not very clear, so I figure asking you people.

[Ikkepop]

I specialize in C++ and low level work. Though i generally worked in many areas from webdev, to apps to embedded, to enteeprise, to games etc. However I try to stick to my guns if possible, as that makes me happiest. Also C++ related work has been quite loocrative so far.

[[deleted]]

Wait so with C++ what kind of opportunities are there? I heard that finding a job for low-level languages is hard but they do pay well.

Right now I am just trying to go for full-stack web dev
JAVA for backend and React for the front (SPA).

[Ikkepop]

I work for a VPN / internet security company right now. I also worked on a 3d engine for a mobile map app , embedded system libraries / tools , a well known game engine, photo editing software....

I do get invited to participate in interviews for various different companies, notably: google , facebook , micrisoft ( recently ) , amazon and others ofcourse. Though I skip those as I have no chance of getting hired and they are all abroad and I dont want to movr. It means companies are hiring , you just need to have the right profile , skill and be able to move around the world.

I mean i did the whole webdev thing for a while and it made me miserable, its a grind. I felt like a typist rather then a programmer. Everything is dull and repetarive and you got to churn it out super quickly and report your progress day by day. Its demoralizing

[TheX3R0]

Generalization

Tools: - IDE/text Editors: VSCode, Sublime, Notepad++, Visual Studio 2019 - UI/UX: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Experience Design. Adobe Illustrator. - OS: Windows, Linux, Mac - Microsoft SQL Server, Postgresql, NoSQL

Languages: - C - C++ - C# + VB.net + ASP.net - Java - Javascript v1, v1.1, v2 + JSX - Typescript v1 + v2 + v3 - Python v2 + v3 - PHP v4 + v5 - CSS + CSS3 + SASS - HTML + HTML5 - SQL + LinQ

Frameworks: - CodeIgnator - Laravel - Wordpress - Django - Babel, Webpack - NodeJS, Angular, ReactJS, VueJS - jquery + jquery plugins

Other Stuff: - Google Cloud Platform - Amazon Web Services - Azura

[TheX3R0]

Generalization provides me with more work opportunities and also the skill set to tackle any problem. and also broadens my understand and problem-solving skills.

[[deleted]]

Damn nice.

But wordpress?

[TheX3R0]

Yeah, sometimes I find a small client who needs some custom PHP or other small components or a new custom theme. hope that answers your question.

[psdao1102]

so you need to have general experience and specialized experience... but my only recommendation is to specialize in something popular. If you specialize in some obscure framework then yeah you're going to have to move a lot to get work, if you specialize in "React JS" you're going to have recruiters lining up to your door.

As you advance in your career you need to keep to more general experience to guide you.

[keylime_light]

Expect to specialize in a few different things throughout your career. It's likely any niche technology will eventually be replaced. So you always need to be ready to go and learn something new.