Comments on: Should You Be a Generalist Or a Specialist? http://hackerboss.com/should-you-be-a-generalist-or-a-specialist/ Developing software and managing development teams. Sun, 08 Aug 2010 20:15:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v= hourly 1 By: uberVU - social commentshttp://hackerboss.com/should-you-be-a-generalist-or-a-specialist/comment-page-1/#comment-750 uberVU - social comments Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:21:03 +0000 http://hackerboss.com/?p=1499#comment-750 <strong>Social comments and analytics for this post...</strong>This post was mentioned on Twitter by skwirl42: RT @hackerboss As a software developer, should you be a specialist or a generalist? http://bit.ly/78G7NC... Social comments and analytics for this post…

This post was mentioned on Twitter by skwirl42: RT @hackerboss As a software developer, should you be a specialist or a generalist? http://bit.ly/78G7NC...

]]> By: Cadred.NEThttp://hackerboss.com/should-you-be-a-generalist-or-a-specialist/comment-page-1/#comment-747 Cadred.NET Mon, 18 Jan 2010 17:49:13 +0000 http://hackerboss.com/?p=1499#comment-747 <strong>.NET Pulse 1/18/10...</strong>.NET Pulse 1/18/10... .NET Pulse 1/18/10…

.NET Pulse 1/18/10…

]]> By: SMiGLhttp://hackerboss.com/should-you-be-a-generalist-or-a-specialist/comment-page-1/#comment-746 SMiGL Mon, 18 Jan 2010 11:28:39 +0000 http://hackerboss.com/?p=1499#comment-746 Nice post. Thanks Nice post. Thanks

]]> By: opyatehttp://hackerboss.com/should-you-be-a-generalist-or-a-specialist/comment-page-1/#comment-745 opyate Mon, 18 Jan 2010 09:33:26 +0000 http://hackerboss.com/?p=1499#comment-745 It depends.At our company we have a load of Java devs who are JAva certified, Spring certified, etc and who really know the language and the top few frameworks around it. They drive our core product, which is a web app.Myself, however - I am in the innovations (R&D) team, and I know a bit of everything - Java, Scala, Perl, Ruby, Bash, Tcl, Objective C, C/C++ etc etc. I am in charge of prototyping and my generalised skill comes in handy. It depends.

At our company we have a load of Java devs who are JAva certified, Spring certified, etc and who really know the language and the top few frameworks around it. They drive our core product, which is a web app.

Myself, however – I am in the innovations (R&D) team, and I know a bit of everything – Java, Scala, Perl, Ruby, Bash, Tcl, Objective C, C/C++ etc etc. I am in charge of prototyping and my generalised skill comes in handy.

]]> By: Ville Laurikarihttp://hackerboss.com/should-you-be-a-generalist-or-a-specialist/comment-page-1/#comment-742 Ville Laurikari Mon, 18 Jan 2010 07:26:53 +0000 http://hackerboss.com/?p=1499#comment-742 Marcin, thanks for the link. Besides "Generalizing Specialists", there are some great pieces by Scott Ambler on that site as well. Marcin, thanks for the link. Besides “Generalizing Specialists”, there are some great pieces by Scott Ambler on that site as well.

]]> By: Nitin Reddy Katkamhttp://hackerboss.com/should-you-be-a-generalist-or-a-specialist/comment-page-1/#comment-740 Nitin Reddy Katkam Mon, 18 Jan 2010 04:58:57 +0000 http://hackerboss.com/?p=1499#comment-740 I've been all for being a generalist, but most of the time I just can't seem to catch up with it all. Nevertheless, I still tell people I'm a generalist with more experience working with a specific technology.When finding a job, however, I can't seem to apply for DBA or server administrator jobs due to a lack of recent experience but my resume does attract software development positions which I do quite well owing to my know-how in the DBA and server admins areas. I’ve been all for being a generalist, but most of the time I just can’t seem to catch up with it all. Nevertheless, I still tell people I’m a generalist with more experience working with a specific technology.

When finding a job, however, I can’t seem to apply for DBA or server administrator jobs due to a lack of recent experience but my resume does attract software development positions which I do quite well owing to my know-how in the DBA and server admins areas.

]]> By: Marcinhttp://hackerboss.com/should-you-be-a-generalist-or-a-specialist/comment-page-1/#comment-739 Marcin Mon, 18 Jan 2010 03:19:17 +0000 http://hackerboss.com/?p=1499#comment-739 I find that most good developers I have worked with were "generalizing specialists"; the term is taken from an older and still relevant article http://www.agilemodeling.com/essays/generalizingSpecialists.htm I find that most good developers I have worked with were “generalizing specialists”; the term is taken from an older and still relevant article
http://www.agilemodeling.com/essays/generalizingSpecialists.htm

]]> By: Random Links #112 | YASDW - yet another software developer webloghttp://hackerboss.com/should-you-be-a-generalist-or-a-specialist/comment-page-1/#comment-737 Random Links #112 | YASDW - yet another software developer weblog Sun, 17 Jan 2010 22:00:17 +0000 http://hackerboss.com/?p=1499#comment-737 [...] Should You Be a Generalist Or a Specialist? Or even better: Decide to be the jack of all trades. [...] [...] Should You Be a Generalist Or a Specialist? Or even better: Decide to be the jack of all trades. [...]

]]> By: Ville Laurikarihttp://hackerboss.com/should-you-be-a-generalist-or-a-specialist/comment-page-1/#comment-730 Ville Laurikari Sun, 17 Jan 2010 16:14:24 +0000 http://hackerboss.com/?p=1499#comment-730 @madhu, agreed. In the words of Jeff Atwood, <a href="http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/001245.html" rel="nofollow">you should get out of your ghetto</a>: <blockquote> It pains me to see developers who let themselves get locked into some particular toolchain ghetto, without at least peripheral awareness of what else is going on in the programming world around them. </blockquote> @madhu, agreed. In the words of Jeff Atwood, you should get out of your ghetto:

It pains me to see developers who let themselves get locked into some particular toolchain ghetto, without at least peripheral awareness of what else is going on in the programming world around them.

]]> By: zentelenhttp://hackerboss.com/should-you-be-a-generalist-or-a-specialist/comment-page-1/#comment-729 zentelen Sun, 17 Jan 2010 14:56:56 +0000 http://hackerboss.com/?p=1499#comment-729 Good insight, good story. Thanks for sharing. Good insight, good story. Thanks for sharing.

]]> By: madhuhttp://hackerboss.com/should-you-be-a-generalist-or-a-specialist/comment-page-1/#comment-728 madhu Sun, 17 Jan 2010 14:46:54 +0000 http://hackerboss.com/?p=1499#comment-728 Becoming a specialist does not mean to be ignorant about other things..trying and keep an eye on the current trends keeps developer fresh Becoming a specialist does not mean to be ignorant about other things..trying and keep an eye on the current trends keeps developer fresh

]]> By: Tweets that mention Should You Be a Generalist Or a Specialist? | Hacker Boss -- Topsy.comhttp://hackerboss.com/should-you-be-a-generalist-or-a-specialist/comment-page-1/#comment-722 Tweets that mention Should You Be a Generalist Or a Specialist? | Hacker Boss -- Topsy.com Fri, 15 Jan 2010 21:40:44 +0000 http://hackerboss.com/?p=1499#comment-722 [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Samuli Hiltunen, James Dessart and Kari Söderholm, Ville Laurikari. Ville Laurikari said: As a software developer, should you be a specialist or a generalist? http://bit.ly/78G7NC [...] [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Samuli Hiltunen, James Dessart and Kari Söderholm, Ville Laurikari. Ville Laurikari said: As a software developer, should you be a specialist or a generalist? http://bit.ly/78G7NC [...]

]]> By: Ville Laurikarihttp://hackerboss.com/should-you-be-a-generalist-or-a-specialist/comment-page-1/#comment-720 Ville Laurikari Fri, 15 Jan 2010 18:54:28 +0000 http://hackerboss.com/?p=1499#comment-720 Toni, thanks for your insights. In product companies basically job rotations would be a good way to avoid the specialization trap. In my experience, it is not management commitment but employee resistance that is the problem - people don't like to leave their comfort zone. Perhaps that's where you mean that extra management commitment would be needed? Toni, thanks for your insights. In product companies basically job rotations would be a good way to avoid the specialization trap. In my experience, it is not management commitment but employee resistance that is the problem – people don’t like to leave their comfort zone. Perhaps that’s where you mean that extra management commitment would be needed?

]]> By: Toni Kaikkonenhttp://hackerboss.com/should-you-be-a-generalist-or-a-specialist/comment-page-1/#comment-717 Toni Kaikkonen Fri, 15 Jan 2010 18:29:51 +0000 http://hackerboss.com/?p=1499#comment-717 In software consulting companies there is a high demand for both generalization and specialization. In order to sell your work to different kinds of clients, you need to have in-depth knowledge on many different areas. A consultant should also be extrovert and be able to sales work. (and finding these kind of people is really really hard :)In software product companies, good developers are quite often "forced" to specialize in one specific area of technology or product (becoming a grumpy asshole programmer...) This specialization trap, which is also a risk for company, should be tried to actively avoid, but the management commitment for this can be troublesome to get. Costs money and time. In software consulting companies there is a high demand for both generalization and specialization. In order to sell your work to different kinds of clients, you need to have in-depth knowledge on many different areas. A consultant should also be extrovert and be able to sales work. (and finding these kind of people is really really hard :)

In software product companies, good developers are quite often “forced” to specialize in one specific area of technology or product (becoming a grumpy asshole programmer…) This specialization trap, which is also a risk for company, should be tried to actively avoid, but the management commitment for this can be troublesome to get. Costs money and time.

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