The above image is the starting point for a visualized roadmap that software engineer Kamran Ahmed created about the different technologies that web developers use as of 2018.
“Great,” you think, “now I can follow a path towards becoming a full-stack developer!” But then you see the rest of the roadmap, and it looks like this:
The number of available web technologies has grown exponentially since I first started coding over fifteen years ago. Back then, all we had to learn was HTML, CSS, Javascript, and one or two server-side languages, like ASP or PHP. Today, it’s probably easier to walk into Mordor than to master even half of the stuff listed in these charts.
No developer can claim to know all of these technologies. Fortunately for us, we don’t need to. Codevolve.com founder and CEO Saul Costa argues that rather than trying to learn everything, it’s better to know how to learn like a developer, and explains what that means.
And I think he’s right. His approach is how I’ve been able to shift to using different (sometimes competing) technologies for different jobs, and has served me well ever since I started learning how to code. It’s better to be an ace at learning new skills, than to be a jack of all trades and master of none.