[lectrick]

> Sure if you don't have a family and kids

Family and kids are, by any measure, a huge time and energy sink. But that too is also important work that must be done, even if it has professional costs.

The guys writing these new things, more often than not, don't have a family and kids and do have all that extra time. If you have committed to a family and kids, then join a shop where family people work and be content to use yesterday's stuff to get work done, it will still work fine for the most part. You don't have to keep up with everything, perhaps just general trends. Just watch out for that gentle slide into irrelevancy. ;)

[gclaramunt]

> You don't have to keep up with everything, perhaps just general trends. Just watch out for that gentle slide into irrelevancy. ;)

I would argue that wasting time learning the JS "framework of the day" is not the best approach to stay relevant. Learn the logic and math behind programming and you can watch the industry slowly catch up...

[br3w5]

Yep and if you know the fundamentals then you can pick up a new framework in a couple of weeks because these frameworks being discussed are built around core CS concepts and patterns borrowed (rightly) from elsewhere.

I was recently at a jobs fair and spoke to a lot of companies and everyone (apart from one) were saying they wanted developers who had the core fundamentals and could learn any framework or language (the latter obviously takes longer but not much longer). So they weren't putting an emphasis on having to know the latest frameworks even if they were using them, but instead looking for people with knowledge of core concepts.

[onaclov2000]

I don't actually work on Web related stuff at all professionally, I am only using these things because they are my "side projects".... but I do like to keep on top of things when I can. I think just saying that someone HAS to keep on top to be able to be a developer is a bit much.