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General Discussion

Should I specialize or learn it all?

So basically my end goal is to get a front end job, but i see some of the job post and i see that a lot of them want someone that basically knows everything from front to the back-end. My question i should i specialize on something specif to the front end.

3 Answers

it depends on how good you want to be. A lot of programmers can only use things, but they don't understand how things work. I recommend you learn docker, Linux, bash. Learn git properly. Not only using git push. Understand correctly js - closures, promises, async. Also, learn CSS - the more the better. My first question on the interview is display block vs display. 90% don't know. Flexbox, grid layout. How float works, inline-block vs inline. pseudo-classes, pseudo-elements. Transform etc.

Choose one js framework - the best choice is probably react (the majority of job posts). If you learn more js frameworks, you can compare which you should use.

Design patterns can help you improve your code. Learn something about databases - MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, neo4j etc.

I recommend you know anything about everything ( I don't mean all languages etc.), but step by step. Because during your programming journey you can face various problems. Imagine this - In your company you need to create automatic deploy, who will do it?, You realized you need modular, microservices - someone has to figure out the structure of the app. Or you need to decide if you need CSS preprocessor - why you need and which. Or how to write clean CSS.

Max Senden
Max Senden
23,177 Points

Hi Temo,

I agree with Tomas about knowing a little bit of everything that's out there. But as a Front-end developer you really shouldn't be committing yourself to get a solid grasp of all aspects of Back-end development. After all, if you do that, where will you draw the line? Design is a crucial part of webdevelopment as well. Will you go on to learn everything about typography, how to design logos, how to properly use color, implementing brand guidelines, etc? What about art direction or project management?

In other words: specialize. Become good and knowledgeable in what you do. You'll be a valuable team member. Let back-end developers deal with the back-end stuff and designers with the design stuff. You can collaborate with them whenever the situation requires it. Besides, being part of a team is much more fun than being the guy that can do everything by himself.

Hope it helps, Max

Full stack is what everyone seems to want these days, BUT it's best to focus on a specific stack. You'll never be able to master everything anyhow. So best to say "fair enough, I'm going all in with the mern stack".

Plus ask yourself this, who makes more and is more in demand, the cardiologist or the general practitioner?