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Over-specialization is the curse of our profession

onebigfluke.com

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Re: Over-specialization is the curse of our profession

#11

Post by bslatkin »

fruchtose wrote: post #8

Well, 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 increas…

Adam Smith was pre-industrial revolution. He had no idea how far this would go. But he probably understood diminishing returns or hidden costs.

Re: Over-specialization is the curse of our profession

#13

Post by freditup »

I disagree actually. I think having a specialization (front-end vs. back-end for example) is a good thing. It allows someone to dedicate themselves to one specific area and learn it thoroughly. When I'm doing back-end development, I love having a front-end guy who can make it look pretty - I don't want to have to use time/energy up doing that when I'm concentrating on making a secure, fast, maintainable back-end.

However, there is a limit to this. A back-end guy should still have some idea what goes on front-end and vice-versa. So, the key is to be an expert at what you're best at, but not to be a dummy at what you're not as good at.

[On a side note, I don't see why specialization should create contempt. In my opinion, it should breed appreciation]

Re: Over-specialization is the curse of our profession

#16

Post by bslatkin »

freditup wrote: post #13

I disagree actually. I think having a specialization (front-end vs. back-end for example) is a good thing. It allows someone to dedicate themselves to one specific area and learn it thoroughly. When I'm doing back-end development, I love having a front-end guy who can make it look pretty - I don't want to have to use time/energy up doing that when I'm concentrating on making a secure, fast, maintainable back-end. How…

What you said:

"When I'm doing back-end development, I love having a front-end guy who can make it look pretty"

How that sounds to me:

"When I'm done with a hard day's work, I love having a wife at home who can make me a drink"

Seriously! Read what you wrote.

Re: Over-specialization is the curse of our profession

#17

Post by edwinnathaniel »

justinjlynn wrote: post #2

This is really interesting. It makes a nice template when the subjects are different but the sentiment is the same. For example: * 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 lea…

Ditto with Dev vs QA.

Ditto with Dev vs BA.

Ditto with Dev vs DBA.

Looks like the recurring theme here is Dev vs X

Re: Over-specialization is the curse of our profession

#18

Post by xarien »

Categorization is subjective. Both of those categories are so expansive that you could spend lifetimes learning to be better and never fully mastering them. The problem isn't camp A thinks they're hard shit and looks down on camp B, it's that young programmers / engineers think they're hot shit when they have a lot more to learn. Choosing a specialization is hardly ever a bad strategy, but it's important to keep prospective and be able to learn / play other roles.

Re: Over-specialization is the curse of our profession

#19

Post by edwinnathaniel »

bslatkin wrote: post #16
freditup wrote: post #13

I disagree actually. I think having a specialization (front-end vs. back-end for example) is a good thing. It allows someone to dedicate themselves to one specific area and learn it thoroughly. When I'm doing back-end development, I love having a front-end guy who can make it look pretty - I don't want to have to use time/energy up doing that when I'm concentrating on making a secure, fast, maintainable back-end. How…

What you said: "When I'm doing back-end development, I love having a front-end guy who can make it look pretty" How that sounds to me: "When I'm done with a hard day's work, I love having a wife at home who can make me a drink" Seriously! Read what you wrote.

Hehehe, that's a good one. But we both know what he meant :)

Re: Over-specialization is the curse of our profession

#20

Post by jmitcheson »

freditup wrote: post #13

I disagree actually. I think having a specialization (front-end vs. back-end for example) is a good thing. It allows someone to dedicate themselves to one specific area and learn it thoroughly. When I'm doing back-end development, I love having a front-end guy who can make it look pretty - I don't want to have to use time/energy up doing that when I'm concentrating on making a secure, fast, maintainable back-end. How…

When I'm doing front-end development, I love having a back-end guy who can flip the switch and turn it on.
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