

How did you choose your specialization? - warriorkitty

I&#x27;m 22 years old and I&#x27;m spending my every free minute reading about many topics. Some of my teachers told me that it is time to specialize myself and I don&#x27;t think I&#x27;m ready to make that decision. I don&#x27;t want to be a Microsoft guy, SAP guy, PHP guy, Virtualization guy, Networking guy etc... I would really like to be &quot;a little of everything guy&quot; but &quot;a little of everything&quot; could not get you a nice paycheck, even if you know a lot. (Am I wrong?)<p>After a few years of BI development on my full-time job, I&#x27;m getting tired of creating some localized and specialized app for a small group of people who use my software and curse me on a daily basis. I mean, I was perfectly happy when I was a junior developer and when I didn&#x27;t know everything I know today about web development.<p>I&#x27;d say that I&#x27;m interested in machine learning, recommendation algorithms, big-data analytics. What if, after 4-5 years, I get really good at that field and get bored? I&#x27;d say it would be too late to change to something else.<p>How did you choose your field of specialization? Are you happy with your choice now?
======
noir_lord
Specialization is for ants (and fields that are incredibly heavily developed
with huge bodies of knowledge and accepted fact...so not programming).

Since I was a kid I've used interpreted languages on DOS, compiled languages
on Windows, interpreted languages on Linux and compiled languages on Linux,
I've written 2D games, Line of Business Applications, Websites and stuff for
college, I've learnt and forgotten numerous languages, used multiple database
systems hell I've even written VB.

None of this is to brag, it's to make the point that unless you are lucky
enough to find a niche you _really_ enjoy the chances are within 5 years most
of the technologies you choose now will be either obsolete or so mature that
they'll likely be obsolete soon, learn the basics of lots of things, learn the
not basics of something and then do the things that interest you _and_ have a
commercial value first, do the things that only interest you on the side.

Also you can almost be a specialist at not been a specialist (at least in a
subset of fields, these days I can build you a stable reliable solution, write
the code, deploy the server, handle the backups, write the unit tests and deal
with the customers) I'm acceptable at most of those and good at programming,
it's enough.

One final piece of advice: Have hobbies away from a computer (they can involve
one but not primarily), Cycling, Jogging, Yoga or something that gets you out
the house, 35 year old you will thank 22 year old you, trust me.

~~~
garthk
A thousand times: this.

------
dmalik
> I would really like to be "a little of everything guy" but "a little of
> everything" could not get you a nice paycheck, even if you know a lot. (am I
> wrong?)

Depends on how good you are at your bit of everything and how well they tie in
to one another. Also where you work.

> How did you choose your field of specialization? Are you happy with your
> choice now?

I'm 31 now, went to College for 1.5 years for Web Development and then became
a Flash Developer working at a big tech company for 10 years. I'm now working
on my own startup. I'd consider myself full stack developer now and I'd say
I'm good at design. I just did what I was interested in. I mean 10 years in
Flash and now the technology is dead but whatever. I learned a lot and much of
it was transferable into web development today.

The key thing is to just keep learning. You can never go wrong if you keep
learning.

------
mak4athp
If you pursue a specialization and get bored, you move on from it. There's not
a lot of drama to it and a lot of your skills will be transferable. On top of
that, it sounds like you'll naturally keep investigating new areas as you go
along, so your own transition -- if/when it comes -- will be even easier.

Provided that you're drawn to something that can get you work, just go for it.

------
dropit_sphere
The Blub paradox is instructive. It's hard to know what's good about a
language or specialty if you don't understand it. So: learn PHP, learn
virtualization, learn lisp, Forth, VB, C++, ML algorithms, statistics...the
list goes on. Don't forget to learn the business side; basic managerial
accounting, how to sell, how to manage, etc.

And then, of course, have a life, too.

------
interdrift
I'm a C# Developer ( 20 years old here ). I'm happy with what I earn. I prefer
algorithms data structures in C++ tho.

