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Ask HN: Is it worth getting into distributed systems after 12 years full stack?

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Ask HN: Is it worth getting into distributed systems after 12 years full stack?

#1
I have done 12 years Full Stack engineering, including some DevOps. Recently I have been getting very interested in Distributed Systems, and not just at a consuming level but at the theory level. I would like to get into the gritty details of distributed systems, perhaps to the level of a Masters' Degree.

Is it worth getting into the the subject? It would take a major commitment in time and efforts. Would it help with better career opportunities?

Re: Ask HN: Is it worth getting into distributed systems after 12 years full stack?

#4
post #3

I vote yes, but I'm probably a bit biased.

What would your reasons be? I think we are all biased and I value strong opinions.

Not everything in the world needs to be decentralized, despite what your local snake oil ICO salesman might tell you. However, there are more than enough significant institutions and processes that can and will function better with a little bit of distribution, decentralization, federation, etc properly baked in at key friction points. Building that future is a worthy and potentially lucrative cause. I know I'm speaking incredibly broadly, but frankly I had a similar question as you some years ago but without the benefits of being a full stack engineer.

Disclosure: MSc in Digital Currency holder.

Re: Ask HN: Is it worth getting into distributed systems after 12 years full stack?

#5
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What would your reasons be? I think we are all biased and I value strong opinions.

Not everything in the world needs to be decentralized, despite what your local snake oil ICO salesman might tell you. However, there are more than enough significant institutions and processes that can and will function better with a little bit of distribution, decentralization, federation, etc properly baked in at key friction points. Building that future is a worthy and potentially lucrative cause. I know I'm speak…

Thanks. However I am not much into Crypto and Blockchain, just distributed systems (not necessarily decentralised).

Re: Ask HN: Is it worth getting into distributed systems after 12 years full stack?

#9
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What would your reasons be? I think we are all biased and I value strong opinions.

Not everything in the world needs to be decentralized, despite what your local snake oil ICO salesman might tell you. However, there are more than enough significant institutions and processes that can and will function better with a little bit of distribution, decentralization, federation, etc properly baked in at key friction points. Building that future is a worthy and potentially lucrative cause. I know I'm speak…

I always thought distributed systems weren’t necessarily decentralized systems. Is my understanding of the terminology wrong?

For example a system that uses distributed algorithms for performance improvements, or a system that is distributed by design and necessity to retain the benefits of redundancy, could be considered both centralized and distributed.

Re: Ask HN: Is it worth getting into distributed systems after 12 years full stack?

#10
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What would your reasons be? I think we are all biased and I value strong opinions.

Not everything in the world needs to be decentralized, despite what your local snake oil ICO salesman might tell you. However, there are more than enough significant institutions and processes that can and will function better with a little bit of distribution, decentralization, federation, etc properly baked in at key friction points. Building that future is a worthy and potentially lucrative cause. I know I'm speak…

That’s not what a distributed system is. I think OP was talking about distributed systems in the computer science sense, and the theory around it, e.g. lamport clocks, distributed synchronization mechanisms... You could argue that blockchains are also distributed systems, but only in a very limited sense.

To OP: I think it’s absolutely worth it. Any car is a distributed system, even smartphones (by themselves, not just as part of a network!) have so many independent devices with full-blown CPU cores in them that you can call them distributed systems, and as you probably know by now, it’s absolutely a non-trivial topic. So if it’s something that deeply interests you, there is a market.

Given your full stack background (by which I assume you mean web development?), you might first need to look for work on distributed systems that are strongly associated with the web, web services etc.

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