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The future for a non web developer - brutal honesty
- Thread starter Solarion
- Start date
What I've seen internationally is that Software and Web Developers diversify into a few languages and frameworks.
There is still a lot of opportunities for Software Devs and I believe there will always be
Well, you probably don’t want to be a desktop app developer, unless it’s a very specialized application (think Photoshop, CAD, etc.).
HPC, Data Science, Edge Computing, etc. are huge right now and will only get bigger. Personally, avoiding web development was the best career decision I’ve ever made.
HPC, Data Science, Edge Computing, etc. are huge right now and will only get bigger. Personally, avoiding web development was the best career decision I’ve ever made.
John_Phoenix
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Diversify into games, ai or machine learning, alternatively cybersecurity. All of these benefit greatly from experience and a solid development background.
For more esoteric avenues, AR / VR or IOT might interest you.
For more esoteric avenues, AR / VR or IOT might interest you.
Solarion
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Honestly if I followed my heart I would get into the gaming industry. I'm in my 40's now so not sure it it's too late for that.
I am in the position though where I could study for a while and start somewhere as a junior.
I am in the position though where I could study for a while and start somewhere as a junior.
Honestly, it’s a **** industry to be in. You are probably attracted to the industry because you like to play games. Making them is a whole different story, and more likely to put you off them entirely.
It takes a lot of time also with a steep learning curve. Even when using engines such as Unity. To make any game acceptable for public release takes quite a few skilled people as well. I have however seen an excellent game made with Unity 3D that was created by a husband and wife. It took years to develop though.
Yeah, I’m not saying a person can’t do it, and in fact the learning curve is the best part. The bits that put me off is that the Indie route has only a minuscule chance of success, even if the product is good. The work/$ ratio is completely out of whack except for the handful of cases where the game goes viral. In both the Indie and AAA worlds, the motivation seems to be more like a kind of “Rock Star” wannabe seeking fame and recognition than anything else - obviously, there are exceptions, but I found this very off putting.
At the end of the day, I am thankful for those with the skill and motivation to see this through and produce great titles, but those people are usually oceans ahead of the average. Essentially, I wouldn’t recommend the industry to anyone who isn’t some sort of prodigy.
I don't have extensive knowledge of development in general, but I completely agree with your views. What you said is logical to understand. Thanks for your post
bchip
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The other areas not mentioned yet is
- Project Manager is a highly sought after skill and will be in the future
- Development with ERP's / CRM's
- Development in Data Analytics
- (as stated above) Machine Learning / AI
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Solarion
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Yup some valuable information here for future career paths something to think about thanks guys. At some point one has to start thinking long term and reevaluate where we are. I'm at that point. Perhaps I even go the project manager route, quite open to that.
Yeah, winforms is not something to specialise in. However, businesses do sometimes need desktop applications - the key thing about them is that they always have large backend components. The front end is a small portion of the work.
If done right, the front end could be either a web front end or desktop front end.
The last desktop app I built was for an enterprise firm and most of it was actually backend work. Implementation of business processes, batch processing, etc etc. That was most of it. Not that the UI was trivial, it just wasn't most of the work.
If you are doing desktop apps without a backend component at all, then you need to switch to a new and more profitable line of work.
If done right, the front end could be either a web front end or desktop front end.
The last desktop app I built was for an enterprise firm and most of it was actually backend work. Implementation of business processes, batch processing, etc etc. That was most of it. Not that the UI was trivial, it just wasn't most of the work.
If you are doing desktop apps without a backend component at all, then you need to switch to a new and more profitable line of work.
Solarion
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What you have described is spot on with my type of development. I love doing all the back end coding, all the database operations, the coding etc. The front end is ACTUALLY for me right now where I am at a bit of a quandry, the actual UI stuff.
Look a UI is just a means of displaying your data. Could be anything. I think that is where I am lacking experience. I love the idea of having all of your code and functionality in place, and being able to swop out one UI for another, a WinForms for a WebForms or a WPF forms. Some clients I've had did not even want any UI at all and simply wanted reports printed or documents processed.
It actually sounds like I'm on the right track already however I would like to add other types of UI's into my toolbox. That is what I'm lacking. Possibly a short web development course would come in handy.
I've hardly done any frontend stuff in my career. Backend is definitely where I'm comfortable. Not worried about it either to be honest.
I have done a little javascript when I was "forced" too, it's painful to use but pretty useful in the long run.
I have done a little javascript when I was "forced" too, it's painful to use but pretty useful in the long run.
I am a primarily a front end dev, but I often get called to do back end(Always going to be my favorite), however I am working on an app built using Electron(A Javascript framework for building "desktop apps").
I actually vested a lot of time in JS ecosystem as it allows me to flit from team to team, which is what I want at this point in my life.
I actually vested a lot of time in JS ecosystem as it allows me to flit from team to team, which is what I want at this point in my life.
Why would you feel doing C# is 'leaving you behind'? I'm really curious as to why you would think this. The MS stack is very well established in SA, more so than many other countries.
If you want to do web dev work off course there is nothing really stopping you but you should be pretty comfortable with an MS stack skillset.
If you want to do web dev work off course there is nothing really stopping you but you should be pretty comfortable with an MS stack skillset.
bchip
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Interesting post I read on Quora that seems relevant
What are the biggest lessons you have learned in the corporate world?
Chris Hansen's answer: A simple list 1. DTA: Don’t Trust Anyone, especially Management and HR. 2. **** travels up. If I complain to my boss, then he’ll complain to his, and so on. Never complain about your superiors to peers or staff. 3. Nobody works for free. If you’re doing work, get paid for ...
Some excerpts:
8.
If you work in IT, you need an exit strategy. Your goal should be to get to management as soon as possible. There is no upward potential in being an individual contributor, the pace of change is vicious and unrelentingly, and inevitably you will not be able to keep up. Do you see a lot of senior IT talent in their 50’s and 60’s? Nope.
9. If you want to make real money, you need to be managing people.
10. Everything is Sales. If you are not directly tied to generating income, you’re seen as an expense. That’s bad for business and bad for your career. Income generators keep their jobs. Expenses get reorganized or cut.
24. Remote work is convenient but limits your potential growth. No one ever got a big promotion from being in a remote-only role. In-person Office relationships are critical.
25. Age discrimination is real. Your chances of finding work after 50 diminish every year that you’re alive. An exception is Director and Executive level management where age is expected.
In a South African context, this tends to be more true. In the US, especially in tech, not really. I've had plenty of colleagues in their 50's, 60's and even 70's. Very few people make Senior Staff or Principal Engineer before 40, and Distinguished Engineer or Fellow are typically between their late 40's to 60's.
Actually, somewhat true in SA, but largely nonsense in 1st world tech companies. The hands-on/technical ladder runs parallel to the management ladder, not underneath it.
The idea isn't without merit: rather belong to a profit center than a cost center. Thing is, that if the business depends on bespoke technology, it means that you're a profit center. You don't want to be the desktop support guy, but the people building computational financial models, trading systems, CAD software, engineering software, semiconductor simulation software or design tools, etc. get paid extremely well.
Of course, people get promoted. The Senior Director 3 levels above me at my fist Silicon Valley job worked from home in another state, his entire tenure at the company, and this is hardly a singular situation. This is far more about the personality of the individual, and how proactive they are at keeping lines of communication open between themselves and other key people.
Once again, with the "In the US disclaimer"
: I am literally interviewing two people pushing 50 this week. We have hired plenty of people in their 40's and 50's. Their experience is exceptionally valuable. If you've been doing the same thing for the last 20-30 years, that's another story, but this is far more about how "out of practice" the person is, than how old they are.
This.
I have had to make the transition now that I don't work for a bank anymore.
The flavour nowadays, and what is heavily in demand is .Net core APIs with a JS framework.