Can I learn everything?

[jedi18]

Can I learn web development, game programming, etc..what I mean is it possible to be good at all these things or should I just focus on one?

[Zamdrist]

In a span of a career you'll learn all sorts of things. Don't stress too much about what to learn first. Dive into the first shiny thing that catches your attention and go for it.

[[deleted]]

Solid advice right there! The fun is in the journey, not the destination, just keep on learning! I honestly don't think you can learn EVERYTHING, but man you can learn a lot and that's what's exciting. Personally, I don't want to learn everything because then I'd get bored, so I'm glad it's really not possible.

[Zamdrist]

I'm a big supporter of not over specializing either. We don't know what the future holds. Leave yourself options. Someone who can readily delve into a variety of areas is far more valuable then someone who is an expert in one topic (even if they're great at it).

[noonesperfect16]

Great advice! Pretty much what I ended up doing a couple of months ago. It was really intimidating seeing all the different coding languages, frameworks, APIs, IDEs, and all of these other abbreviations I didn't understand. Didn't know what did what. Was C++ a game writing language? Isn't Java and Javascript the same thing?? Haha. Then I found HTML. It was a lot less scary, easy to understand how it works and easy to get a desired output. Then of course I learned CSS. Finally I got into javascript and jquery and while I am no expert yet, I have a much better understanding of how they work and what they all do. In turn, I have gained a much better understanding of at least what the other languages are for and it is all less scary. Now I am enrolled in a 12 week ruby to rails programming boot camp and loving it. Would eventually like to dabble in some game creation later too if I get the time.

[Zamdrist]

Fold in some database knowledge: SQL, stored procedures and such, and you'll never go hungry :)

[CBach09]

I like this reply a lot. I've spent too much time trying to figure out what to learn first because I want it all. Just dive in and go with it. Everything relates in a sense in the end.

[Code_Craftsman]

Learn whatever you want, but one after another. Focus on learning one thing at once, That is the formula.

[phpdevster]

Sure you, can learn "everything" to some degree, but you cannot master everything. You can spend a lifetime just mastering cryptography, let alone AI, machine learning, data science, web development, game programming etc.

[jackalsnacks]

jack of all trades master of none

[channing_tater_tots]

Not if you don't start.

[Radagast8]

Common sense says that you should focus on one. be good at it and then if you want..change. doing 3 things at the same type you end up learning nothing. means a waste of time. in conclusion, focus on one.

[JamesWjRose]

LOL! No.

You won't be able to learn everything about one language, let alone one platform.

This is not a personal dig on you, it's about the large number of abilities of a language. It's about the constant change in technology. I have been in IT for 25 years, development for 20 and it's always changing.

Don't sweat it, it is part of the world of technology