

Coding: Generalists vs. specialists - ilamont
http://www.thestandard.com/news/2008/04/09/generalists-not-wanted-here

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danohuiginn
This is a discussion that always happens, in just about every context. It also
depends massively on perspective. Take somebody who codes java and haskell,
does database admin and web design, and hacks the linux Kernel: I'd call her a
generalist. But from a wider perspective she might be a specialist:
concentrating on hacking rather than literature, or business, or physics. It's
all relative.

[Incidentally, I'll mention that Isaiah Berlin's essay 'the hedgehog and the
fox' is a classic of the 'generalists vs. specialists' genre, applying the
division to writers and philosophers. I'm not a massive fan of it (dividing
people up like that gets a bit superficial), but looking up papers citing it
will get you into the recent literature on the subject]

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Hexstream
"I have been coding for 30 years using a variety of languages and platforms,
including C++, Java, and PHP."

He says he's a generalist, but that sounds like specialising in a few popular
languages...

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chaostheory
a lot of people I know tend to stick to one language... from the quote it
sounds like he hints at more languages, he just didn't want to list them all

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Hexstream
I can't picture someone who knows lots of "esoteric" languages name only 3
popular ones as examples.

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chaostheory
the key advantage that a generalist has over a specialist is being able to
adapt to constantly changing conditions quickly and more easily... from the
view of self-interest, given parallels in the animal kingdom (racoons have
survived even with their natural habitats destroyed, ...) - it's the way to go

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baldwinlouie
This article brings up the quote: "Jack of all trades, master of none", which
seems ok to me.

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erickhill
That being said, it's important to have a broader knowledge so you can
actually communicate with other team members intelligently and effectively.
Simply specializing in a field, and mastering it, can sometimes lead to weird
and uncomfortable "siloing" of tasks.

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cellis
You left out Awesomenist

