[throwawaystress]

Thanks so much for the perspective. I really appreciate it.

What's your perspective on this: it seems like the field has exploded in the past 10 years. As I've been programming for a long time, and following tech blogs/etc, it seems like 20 years ago, you could do well learning Java and maybe one or two other things and you'd be set. Nowadays, it seems that's not enough.

[mindcrime]

20 years ago you "needed" Java, C++, CORBA, COM, DCOM, OLE, ActiveX, ATL, MFC, Win32, DCE, etc. etc., yadda, yadda. The names have changed, but I don't feel like the concept has changed much, as far as employers wanting people with a laundry list of skills. But you never really need all of them, or at least you don't need to be an expert on them all... you can learn what you need as you go. At least, that's worked for me for the past 25+ years.