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by RickJWagner 2396 days ago
30 years in professional programming for me. I agree, the stack has gotten so huge that it's impossible to master even most.

But what a great career for constant learners! I'm glad it's the way it is.

1 comments

What's the point of the constant learning if it's going to be obsolete in 5 years?

That's what I can't stand about the cult of "you get to learn so much at FAANG or a startup" -- at some point in life, you need to spend less time learning new things and start applying the things you have learned. I've been drinking from the proverbial water hose for 20 years. It's tiring now. At some point you need to be able to find the permanent things and reject the noise.

> What's the point of the constant learning if it's going to be obsolete in 5 years?

Well... that's the point, really. If it didn't change then you'd be able to master it all.

The constant change is the motivation for constant learning and (hopefully) improvement.

There's no point in me trying to make a longer point of it. There's an sort of an eye-opening account from someone coding for years about how our situation as programmers has improved over time.