Ask HN: How to avoid getting sucked in too deep by Node.js?

If Javascript satisfies you as a developer, you have nothing to worry about. I'd look into Typescript because that's the future of the Javascript ecosystem, other than that, just enjoy the ride :)

This question can be applied to any familiar tools. Usually we're in a hurry to get something done, so we grab the tools in easy reach which we are most familiar with.

The counter to this (for me) is the "grass is always greener" desire for _the perfect tool_ for the job. Maybe it's a personality thing, but that causes some of us to be broad generalists instead of specialists.

Do you ever find Javascript or Node work tedious? Do you (like me) find screenfulls of NPM blah blah a turn-off? If so, I'll bet you can find some alternatives that promise great increases in one of the following: speed of getting things built, elegance of your code, ease of long-forgotten return and maintenance, mental strength building, etc. etc.

Try Clojurescript. You'll still have familiar reach to your JS stuff, but your brain will expand greatly. Or check out Elm. Or go "old school" and see what Elixir/Phoenix can do for you with Erlang OTP as your back-end. Different world, but one full of interesting cool "freebies".

Now, if you want $$$$, don't change a thing. JS will probably never die. If you aren't bored off your ass or annoyed until you want to scream every time you see ({ and }), then stay with what you know. You'll be a deep expert who can walk into the right situation and burn a trail to success (and income).

Remember, there are COBOL programmers out there earning HUGE contracting rates still. Someday future generations will say the same thing about Javascript programmers.

Is it really a trap? What's the value of being different on the backend? Node.js is a rich ecosystem, and it's not like you're digging a career hole (at least not at this point in the lifecycle). Once you really settle in, that's when you can put your energy where it belongs: solving business problems, not learning a new set of tools.

I say all this not as a Node fanboy; I've spent most of my career in ColdFusion and Ruby. I get the same doubts when I start something in Ruby (which is certainly further along in the lifecycle than Node). I'll jump off into something new and sexy, get a little stuck in the learning, and realize I'm doing my customer/employer a disservice. I'll go back to Ruby, and find that I end up with a more elegant, well thought out solution based on my experience in that space.

For instance: I recently had a hairy problem that I was convinced a fancy microservice to manage concurrency etc would be necessary to solve. I then found out that using my existing application, and using the connection_pool gem already in Sidekiq, gave me a better solution in a fraction of the time than I was planning on building.

It's only a tool. Look at lumberjack, does he ask how to avoid using chainsaw ? He uses chainsaw when it's convenient for him and he feels it's a right tool for the job and he uses axe or other tools when he thinks that other tools are better. Learn about other tools and maybe one of them will be a better fit in future. If something works for you then it's great, don't just jump on bandwagon saying that node.js is evil, it's a tool. I use different tools and languages and I also use node.js where it fits.

Even after several years, I would not presume to know everything I can do with a platform. You learn something new every day. Also, a skill one language and frameworks can translate to experience in other languages and frameworks. The discipline I got from being a Delphi developer taught me how to handle UI messages, threads and IPC, which are the exact skills I used in order to write a native Java application for Android from scratch. So no, nothing is lost. Just be world-class in your chosen platform and you are an expert in many others automatically.