Over-specialization is the curse of our profession
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Over-specialization is the curse of our profession
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Re: Over-specialization is the curse of our profession
#2This is really interesting. It makes a nice template when the subjects are different but the sentiment is the same.
For example:
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I'm sick of the distinction between developers and operators.
The developers think they're hot shit because they solve the big problems. They know how to scale. They look down on operators who are only solving trivial problems. Developers build the real things. They don't have time to learn about Apache configs or how to determine how many servers to allocate to a task. Without them, a project can never be successful.
The operators think they're hot shit because they're the closest to the metal. They know to perfect an infrastructure. They look down on developers who have no idea how the product is actually run and who don't get woken up at night when it breaks. Operators build the real things. They don't have time to learn about the rails stack or wretched languages like JavaScript. Without them, a project can never be successful.
You're both wrong. You must do both or you'll be irrelevant (somewhere).
Over-specialization is the curse of our profession. Stratification breeds condescension. The only remedy is for all engineers to do devops.
Re: Over-specialization is the curse of our profession
#3The computer graphics industry is highly stratified with only true independents being able to cut across different domains. This is probably because learning the skills required to be top-ranked in any given discipline is extremely demanding.
A highly skilled animator may not be the best modeller, and an amazing rigger might be terrible at texturing.
The software business is both older and newer than computer graphics. It's older in that people have been doing it since the sixties, but it's newer in that the "pipeline" has radically shifted several times in the last twenty years. Each new delivery platform, be it desktop apps, web apps, or now mobile apps often requires re-thinking how things are made.
The problem here is a lack of people who've spent time in different disciplines to understand them better, not that there are disciplines in the first place.
Re: Over-specialization is the curse of our profession
#4Agree with the author on how over-specialization is a bigger curse on our profession than most others. But breeding of condescension is a rather petty justification for becoming a more broader human being/ programmer. Many bigger gains come from having ample breadth at personal and group levels.
Re: Over-specialization is the curse of our profession
#5Our industry is less specialized than even 5 years ago.. let alone 20. With better communication comes less specialization.
Re: Over-specialization is the curse of our profession
#6its not very specialized at all
education is basically free, educate yourself on anything you want - front end, back end, devops whatever.
its your own choice and problem to not broaden your skills when the cost of doing so is so low.
Re: Over-specialization is the curse of our profession
#7I've never worked in a business where there was a social stratification between specialists in the manner that was outlined in the blog that was linked to.
Deep specialization in one area with a narrow, but broad enough knowledge of other areas seems to be the norm to me now...and when I started working over a decade ago.
Re: Over-specialization is the curse of our profession
#8Well, I'll be the devil's advocate. What about Adam Smith? He noted that division of labor in a factory will increase its productivity and make the workers much more effective. While a software company is not entirely comparable to a factory, why does the same principle not apply? Devs who can concentrate on one part of the stack can become experts in that area, increasing their productivity--and consequently increasing the productivity of the company.
Re: Over-specialization is the curse of our profession
#9I've never worked in a business where there was a social stratification between specialists in the manner that was outlined in the blog that was linked to. Deep specialization in one area with a narrow, but broad enough knowledge of other areas seems to be the norm to me now...and when I started working over a decade ago.
Really? What have you been doing?
Re: Over-specialization is the curse of our profession
#10but it would be super HARD to do both well
communication between developers is most important!