[sebmellen]

The words "generalist" and "specialist" are relative, so different people perceive the roles of "generalists" and "specialists" differently.

To me, even a small degree of specialization within software development qualifies someone as a specialist. xyzzy_plugh seems to think many more people are generalists than specialists, even at larger (FAANG) compaines.

[xyzzy_plugh]

By your definition, I've been a specialist in columnar store databases, high-performance RPC frameworks, compilers and toolchains, embedded firmware and vector graphics.

That sounds like a generalist to me.

[darkhorse22]

you're crazy, I love you, but you're crazy