I am seeking some career guidance, as the road seems to be splitting, winding an

Question

I am seeking some career guidance, as the road seems to be splitting, winding and veering off in many different directions. It is my desire to be a professional software engineer, focusing (more so) on web applications. My background in web design lead me to php, mysql and minimal javascript (as so many have). From here I'm starting to learn visual studio, C# MS SQL and many tools / scripting languages that I feel would make me a better programmer and asset to a web team (REGEX, HTML5, MSSQL,). The more I dwell into Visual Studio, ASP.NET aspx syntax ( <% %> ) and now reading the up coming razor syntax. I am starting to get this feeling of cornering, isolation from those who develop in areas that I also find interesting. I get it, it's just the nature of life when you become specified in any area of expertise, you have to focus somewhere or you'll be a jack of all trades. But at the same time I would love to "reach over" and be able to dab into objective-C or Java, so I can design web applications that are intended for cross-platform use. It is not my intention to come of whining, I'm just looking to be told "it'll be ok, push hard an any of these directions and you'll be able to do anything you want." Where, my next 4 years of effort in becoming an asset in C# and asp.net will no damn me to a life of servitude to Microsoft technology related jobs. Upon my visit to Google's HQ back in April it really inspired me and opened my eyes a bit. But from what I hear their technological push does not utilize any C# or .NET for that matter. So I guess a summed up question would be: Do professional software engineers have the freedom (and time for that matter) to learn, professes and become an asset of other technological sectors? Does one who masters Visual Studio also have a mastery of VIM or EMACS?

Explanation / Answer

It depends. Some folks are perfectly happy being experts in one area. Others, the real alpha geeks, might specialize in something and dabble in other things. Occasionally you'll even find someone who has mastery over a couple different domains (e.g., Java and .NET).

The trick is finding ways to expand your experiences. A lot of jobs really silo you into one framework or language, e.g., .NET Programmer, or Java Programmer. Some even nail you down to a platform built on a given framework, like Sharepoint. If your title is "Sharepoint Developer," chances are you're going to do pretty much one thing: .NET as it relates to Sharepoint.

If you're comfortable with that type of specialization, there's nothing wrong with it. Lord knows, there are developers out there who ONLY know COBOL and many of them still find steady work. In fact, they're getting harder to find as they all retire.

You sound as if you don't want to be pigeonholed like that, so I would suggest this: You have to start somewhere. The first job is hard. You take whatever entry-level stuff you can get. So look for a job with a language and environment you like, and run with it. Build on the fundamentals: Good design principles, basic architecture, etc. As another poster said, languages come and go, but fundamentals last forever.

As your career progresses, look for areas you can cross-train. Maybe your org has other projects in another language you can help out with. Maybe you could attend some code camps to get exposure to other stuff. And never, ever underestimate the power of open source projects. Those are great opportunities to learn a new language, and they are great experience because they're REAL projects that you can point to and show off.

Good luck!!!

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