[jarvuschris]

> you wouldn't learn all the meta of a language like C++ in a couple of months.

I think this reinforces OP' point though: what we really need are descriptions more specific than "software developer" but less specific than "$language developer"

> some languages force you to learn so much other "stuff" before you can be professionally productive in it

And it's exactly that stuff that should be the focus of describing the role. e.g. you're looking for a low-level network software developer with proficiency in memory management. If you were recruiting someone to help you with a Go or Rust codebase in that domain, you wouldn't pass over someone with a ton of relevant experience via C++ who hadn't spent much time with Rust/Go yet.

Focusing on the language rather than the skills/application (even when there's a heavy correlation between the language and associated skills) excludes good candidates and includes irrelevant ones