There are millions of talented developers out there. And the tools and frameworks provided by companies like Google, Amazon and Microsoft are squeezing more and more work out of every developer. We are entering into a phase where the best have to continually update their tech skills and compete with young and talented developers especially in countries like China, India and Indonesia. Do you feel a bit insecure about it? If so, how do you handle the insecurity? If you feel secure about your future, what makes you feel that way?
I feel secure about my future. Because, we know that we live in a world where everything is growing very fast. In the past year where was JavaScript and now it's just evolving exponentially. So to keep up with the pace is pretty hard. Nowadays recruitment has also become tougher because of the evolution of the languages. If you want to work only in JavaScript you have not a single chance of getting recruited in 99 percent of the companies. So as developers no matter how fast the languages evolve experienced person in the industry is always a step ahead of new people. Because they are aware of the new trends. But students who have just passed out are less aware of it. No matter how hard they try to be on the same level as a 4 year experience developer there is always a difference in quality of execution of the code.
Be excited that you are one of the first million programmers to have ever existed. 100 years from now, there will have been a billion technologists since Ada Lovelace started the practice of programming.
I started in web design and programming from 13 and now even though i'm 29 and still going along, I have noticed one thing that I certainly did not have back then at that age. Skills in architecture, developing, back-end, databases, as well as the ability to see the bigger picture as well as to notice the changes between the languages.
CSS 2.0 > CSS 3.0
I watched a documentary on Lady Gaga the last month and what caught me was that, despite shes so successful and known as the queen on pop, she still felt like if she doesn't try hard enough if she will ever be good enough despite of what shes already accomplished world wide.
I think its natural to some degree to feel insecure and I know this hits my development time on GitHub at times.. I'm based in London, UK and our market is almost ridiculous, big corps wanting the big shopping lists from web and software developers, that its almost as if the complete market is merging as one.
I was Logistics for five years, and it's taken me almost 3 years to retrain into a junior full stack developer (with mid-level knowledge/experience). The market moved so fast that I don't even recall ever using a CSS framework let alone a compiler back then..
I'm now sat in an awkward position, needing the work but can't guarantee hours due to childcare reasons and the last option is self employment and even though the future is what you make of it, i know for sure i would feel a hell lot happier if I knew i had a pay packet rolling in every month but on this path its not optional at the start..
Only the last year I discovered that Python/Scratch can be taught from the age of 4!! That's already putting pressure on me to teach my daughter in less than 9 months!
If its anything that does stop my insecurity, I just keep thinking that I must push forward. I want to buy my house and setup my daughter for a great career if she wants it, a better life for us than before but at the same time one thing she won't even get until shes much later developed is the ability to look backwards (between versioning), as well as the bigger picture, architecture, developing, which junior developers do not have at a young age.
As long as we keep our minds open, and are open to learning and adjusting, then we will be able to keep up to date with the market. It's when we stop, that's when we fall behind with the rest.
I know the markets going to boom with the next generation as it already has with ours but it will be interesting where the future leads out for all of us :)
I think the new frameworks and technologies could theoretically help everyone equally. I don't really feel threatened by that, just learn new stuff every now and then.
Overall I find that big companies aren't that eager to adopt the very newest technologies, so no need to learn everything right as it comes out.
As for age... My older colleagues are generally more experienced and productive than the young ones, so at least there's that. But there's probably some diminishing returns - one gains more productivity in the first 5 years than from 15 to 20 years.
Overall it's very possible that supply outgrows demand at some point. And coding salaries will surely go down in that case. But I don't personally feel we're close enough to that to start working on a exit strategy.
Also, for me personally, I am pretty obsessive about coding, so I learn quite some new stuff all the time. There's lots of other coders who see it as a good enough career, but not more than that. So I am hopeful that they'll quit before me, should demand for programmers decrease.
Sky
Coder
Wave of Time. Nobody survives that.
I used to feel jealous at first, now a days I take things in survival mode. And take it in my own survival spirit. I choose to celebrate my success and focus less on rainy days. Now that I have seen more rainy days in life. So I like prepare for them instead of feeling good short term.