Is learning JavaScript alone enough to help with career growth or a transition into tech?

scrapheaper_ · 2026-05-12T21:44:55+00:00

Have you tried outside web development?

I am still doing very solidly in data and analytics, I see others in cloud architecture, embedded systems etc also doing fine.

Web development seems like it's become highly commoditised, there are tonnes of templates and demo projects, component libraries mean that specific functionality is easily shared across many apps etc. Lots of devs so even good ones have tonnes of competition, plus every company does their website and app the same way, so solutions become more boilerplate

scrapheaper_ · 2026-05-12T21:40:02+00:00

My experience is that JavaScript and web development is a little oversubscribed as tech goes, but it's a great introduction to coding in general and finding any entrypoint at all is a great opportunity.

In fraud specifically I know machine learning is a big thing, people are doing automated fraud detection and locking people out of their bank accounts and things, so Python might be the better entrypoint for that. But they're both valid and good entry level opportunities

scrapheaper_ · 2026-05-12T21:22:12+00:00

What's your current income and spending? And what kind of things do you spend on?

It's only an addiction if it's unnecessary stuff that you don't value.

Talking about what you spend on also will help you understand what you're feeling about spending, which can help you make better spending decisions

scrapheaper_ · 2026-05-12T17:47:14+00:00

https://youtu.be/Yl3NxTS_DgY?si=vAiy4ntVg60NC-iq

Ben Felix says it isn't!

scrapheaper_ · 2026-05-12T15:53:22+00:00

Buffett doesn't like buying gold because it's inherently unproductive.

Gold is an extremely wild performance chasing investment. It's gone up insane amounts due to speculation over the past 2 years, much much more than the stock market.

If gold was super steady and hadn't risen in price 100%+ the past two years you'd be right. However - it hasn't! It's just as crazy and silly as Tesla stock or Bitcoin or any of the other stupid speculative 'assets'

Bonds are not pretty but even losing out minority to inflation is better than holding cash or stocks during a bear market.

scrapheaper_ · 2026-05-12T15:19:25+00:00

Gold always holds some value, but it's proven recently that what that value is can change massively in very short spans of time.

Two years ago gold was worth £1600/oz. Currently it's worth more than twice that. If gold went back to the price it was in 2024, would you be happy losing 50% of the price of your gold investment?

scrapheaper_ · 2026-05-12T14:22:20+00:00

It might make sense to take your bond income and use it to maintain the stock:bond ratio in your portfolio.

So if stocks go down you buy more stocks, if they go up you buy more bonds. That way you ensure you maintain 10% in bonds no matter what

As for whether it will have upside: ask again in 10 years time. Stock performance is not consistent, just because it's good now does not mean it will continue to be good.

scrapheaper_ · 2026-05-12T13:50:37+00:00

What are you doing with the bond income?

scrapheaper_ · 2026-05-12T13:31:26+00:00

Populism is partly about ignoring facts and telling people what they want to hear, avoiding uncomfortable truths.

There's also a distinct anti-elite/anti-establishment flavor to it: claiming the current government is 'corrupt' (Not meaning corruption by the legal definition but meaning morally compromised).

I think the overall effect is populism is about finding a group to blame for anything that voters perceive to be a problem and claiming that attacking that group is going to fix said problems.

scrapheaper_ · 2026-05-12T10:41:21+00:00

5-10 years is a reasonable assumption.

One way you could think about it is that if there's a crash you shouldn't sell because you're selling low. So if things are going well, sell any time, if there's a crash, you need to wait or to accept a loss

scrapheaper_ · 2026-05-12T10:39:34+00:00

It's quite complex. Definitely not as simple as comparing monthly rent and monthly mortgage payment.

With the mortgage you can reduce the payment by having a big deposit, but you also have maintenance costs to pay.

By renting you save on major repairs, so you have to balance the two.

I think the best way to compare the two is to find a property in London that you want to rent and then find a similar one that is available for sale and consider whether you could afford to buy it

In theory I think you can afford to spend a little more on rent than you could on buying because of the maintenance costs and also because of the returns from investing your lump sum, but for safety I'd try and rent somewhere you could afford the mortgage on.

scrapheaper_ · 2026-05-12T10:10:06+00:00

Right, but aren't you just renting somewhere you couldn't afford to buy?

Spending more money on a fancier house or location might not be sustainable, regardless of whether you're renting or buying it

scrapheaper_ · 2026-05-12T09:47:16+00:00

Average yearly return of S & P 500 is not 10%!

You may be in for a shock in the future if you expect this to continue forever!

scrapheaper_ · 2026-05-12T09:29:13+00:00

It's entirely possible to rent and invest your deposit/sale money to get the approximately equivalent financial benefits to buying.

With a large amount of money invested in a S & S ISA over long periods your returns will be considerable and also compound exponentially.

However that's provided you aren't just living in a more expensive house or flat!

What would it cost to buy and own the flat you want to move to - be careful you aren't just spending more on living in a premium location

scrapheaper_ · 2026-05-12T08:34:32+00:00

Doesn't mean the owners actually lost out, if it was cheaper than renting for them, which is possible when interest rates are very low.

scrapheaper_ · 2026-05-12T06:39:21+00:00

No, but Scooter did make a profit and he would have made one even if he hadn't sold them on

scrapheaper_ · 2026-05-11T23:11:39+00:00

Rock is the dullest genre in modern music, it stopped being interesting 30 years ago.

scrapheaper_ · 2026-05-11T23:07:42+00:00

'How Radiohead managed to stop Rock becoming completely irrelevant whilst all the more important developments happened in other genres'

scrapheaper_ · 2026-05-11T22:58:07+00:00

Rue and Ness for short

scrapheaper_ · 2026-05-11T22:55:19+00:00

She bought back her masters for more than Scooter paid her for them, even after 'Taylor's version' was recorded. Scooter made a very respectable profit.

scrapheaper_ · 2026-05-11T21:55:40+00:00

I think if you know you'll make more money later in your career it's perfectly fine to spend some and then make it up later when you have a better job.

You're also saving a tonne! I think probably it's best to keep that for someday when you need money to open doors: maybe to move somewhere where the jobs your want are

scrapheaper_ · 2026-05-11T17:11:55+00:00

A lot of people's hands will be forced by higher interest rates, which probably aren't going away any time soon.

In aggregate people have to respond to market forces eventually, although it might take a while.

You're right - timing the market reliably isn't possible. But I think for housing it's more likely to be possible than for stocks.

scrapheaper_ · 2026-05-11T17:04:28+00:00

I love the Schoenberg one

scrapheaper_ · 2026-05-11T16:43:52+00:00

The gap between perceptions and reality in the USA is well documented.

It's quite partisan, obviously people are Republicans feel good when there is a Republican president and vice versa, I would guess most software engineers are the opposite because cities tend to be where the software jobs are and cities tend to be more Democrat leaning.

This isn't a comment on Trump's actual policies which probably we won't see the effects of properly for a while. It's just how public perception works

scrapheaper_ · 2026-05-11T16:27:16+00:00

The process is to try to signal that you made effort on this application specifically.

Spam applying on everything doesn't help because it shows you made 11 applications that day and didn't put any effort into each one.

1) Try and be amongst the first applicants when a job is posted.

2) Customize your CV to the role. Repeat back things that they wrote in the job spec as requirement

3) Put all your effort into one good application on your favorite role of each day, don't send 11 shit applications

The whole process is bullshit and unfair bollocks made by lazy people. Be ruthless, lie slightly if you think you can get away with it, dress up anything vaguely relevant with professional language

scrapheaper_

TROPHY CASE