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22 Comments

Being a developer in 2021 can feel like drinking from a fire hose 🥵

If you have dabbled in the arts of programming for a little while now, you are probably aware of how things are constantly changing in the tech world.

New frameworks, languages, tools... yep, it’s a lot to take in.

You may be currently focused on...

  • getting that dream job
  • building an awesome SaaS
  • or are just trying to make good use of your time

With all these decisions (and distractions), it’s important to know what’s worth your time and what isn’t based off of your current short-term and long-term goals.


So, who here struggles with this?

Or have you in the past? What annoys 😡 you about this problem?

Share with us in the comments below ⬇️

  1. 3

    Fyi, that's only true if you focus on JS.
    I'm not going to share my thoughts on JS, because it's a controversial topic.

    However, on more stable languages, things are waaaay better.

    1. 2

      That is true. Thanks for pointing that out!

    2. 1

      Honestly JS doesn't have to be that way either. The JS language itself is plenty stable, people just can't seem to sit still and build products rather than frameworks an build tools.

      1. 1

        I'm not saying that JS is not stable, I'm talking about how easy it is to shoot yourself in the foot, finger, arm, arms, legs, head and so on, using JS.

        1. 1

          Hah, well I can't disagree with that one 😂 I appreciate the flexibility of JS but it is definitely easy to shoot one's own extremities in production code.

          1. 1

            😁I wouldn't call that "flexibility" - I would call it "beyond sloppy design"

            1. 2

              Where did the "not sharing thoughts on JS" go? 😏😁

              1. 1

                😁😁😁It's sooo hard not to😁😁😁

  2. 1

    Ultimately it all ties back on what you want to achieve. You need to work back from that.

    I started coding 20+ years ago. And honestly all the tech and languages changed maybe every 4 years. By the second or third cycle I realised it was a bit of a waste of time - everything you learnt was cycled out - and I eventually moved into more senior roles where I didn't have to worry about that as much.

    My best advice is not to get caught into 'hypey' technologies, because they're a big time waster frankly. They disappear in a couple of years. It's hard to see this early in your career. But there are particular technologies that really won't last, and no-one will be able to support them in a few years, and there are some that are very very established and will be 'backbone' for a long time.

    PHP powers something like 70% of the world's websites. Java powers almost anything enterprise tech (banks, big corporates etc). Boring technologies, but very established and safe choices if you want to work in corporates.

    If you want to work on newer and sexier startups than everything JS and JS frameworks seem to be the way, but again, would focus on established frameworks that look like they're becoming the defacto standard (sometimes hard to pick), or you will waste your time.

    1. 1

      So agree with this. Thanks for sharing!

  3. 1

    Not at all to be honest.

    With the view that IHs want freedom to do what they want.

    I would focus on core tech that has history.

    If i was starting out again I would learn HTML -> CSS -> JS -> React and not worry about backend.

    If you want to create a SaaS get amazing at React and outsource backend. Most IHs don't like that advice.

    That is by far the best use of your time.

    The other path would be learning CSS and Tailwind really well and some basic React to plug it in.

    Both the React and CSS have the highest paying jobs.

    1. 1

      Totally agree with you and @emredemirel.

      I see what you mean. It’s more of choosing a simpler path from the start + ignoring all the distractions. Less of choosing all the other million options.

    2. 1

      I think the line between Frontend(especially React) and Backend got blurry recently. We have React and then on top of it NextJS, GatsbyJS, and then on top of it BlitzJS etc.

      Almost all business logic shifted towards Frontend because of JS Frameworks. I just feel like building a one-man-saas is overwhelmingly complicated because of the shift.

      But you are right, even tho it's overwhelming, best path for webdev is still HTML -> CSS -> CS -> React -> Serverless

  4. 1

    Do You have a specific concern? Or are you looking for a hack idea in it?

    I think there is something about the personalities attracted to this field that keep it ever moving, due I'd claim early on that it's just a young industry, nowadays I think it's just an ever rolling one

    1. 1

      Simply, I’m an indie hacker trying to solve people’s everyday problems.

      I asked many indie hackers about something similar to this several months ago and I wanted to dive into this topic more. Back then, it was a very pressing matter and something many devs deal with. Now i’m presenting it in different ways to finally settle on a good problem/solution for this.

      1. 1

        Well you still put it very generically

        getting that dream job

        Needs to be a current and "professional" friendly language
        For example, big e. companies don't like PHP too much cause the noise to prize ratio is too high with website hackers vs hardcore developers
        Startups push the envelope with newer shiny tech "just because"/due to the people it attracts... so something new that's not mainstream yet...
        E. like mid-cycle languages that reached maturity and mass

        If all you are after is money wise dream, some really old tech while having few positions pays high premiums due to running out of professionals there

        or are just trying to make good use of your time

        For that you might stick to something you already invested in, you might be able to work with WP for 20-50 years are still get MVPs and full products as fast as any cutting edge language developer
        New and better doesn't mean it's going to pay off for your time quickly, especially if you've specialized

        building an awesome SaaS

        Well, that could mean so many things, most probably you'd look at UI and not the core underlying system, so you just need to make sure you work with something that has a lib developing UI lib and examples...
        Or it could mean you need a high multiplatform flexible tech

        That's why I'm asking what do you really want to talk about, cause there is so much to unpack

        1. 1

          Yep, I see what you mean. I’ve just been trying to unpack the key pain points that all of these choices as a dev affect.

  5. 1

    I sometimes get overwhelmed with how many languages/frameworks/libraries there is.

    1. 1

      Been there. But you don't have to learn every one of them. I recommend picking a framework you like that will benefit you the most and ignore the rest.

    2. 1

      How do you think this impacts how you work or how you make decisions? How does it affect your long term goals?

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