Entering into this area of technology can be equal parts exciting and terrifying. The exciting part is of course we can take tools, especially tools that are pretty commonly and freely available to anyone, and we feel as though we can create anything that we have in our imagination. However, especially for people that are just starting in the industry, engaging in this field can be a little scary because we have to invest in a lot of time and resources to learn this area, but there always feels like there is a threat that all of that time and resources may just go out the window because the next day that technology that you were learning is being replaced by the new hot thing. This is a bit terrifying.
So, what do we do with this problem? For me personally, I've been pouring myself into learning Javascript and even more specifically working on React. Even though React is very important and popular in the moment, I remember when Php was in the same spot. There is always that fear that there will soon be a new Javascript library or even something outside of Javascript completely that will come and make all of this hard work completely useless.
One great thing is that as the technology changes, the core principles and concepts really don't change that much, and I have been able to see this in other fields. For example, a long time ago I worked for quite a while as a sound engineer. During that time working as a sound engineer, there were major shifts in technology and workflow for most in that industry. Most of the engineers of that time were used to working with analog sound systems before that time but now there was a huge push to make everything digital and with a computer interface. While many sound engineers are obviously very technically minded, the idea of changing old workflows many times would introduce a lot of new stress. All of this being said, there was still good news. Even though equipment and workflows were changing, the old principles of dealing with sound waves were still the same. The methods of EQing mics and speakers were really still the same. There really was just an evolution on the old concepts.
I say this because in this field were we joke that every week there is a new Javascript library or framework, Javascript is still Javascript. Computer Science is still Computer Science. The principles within the industry will of course evolve and hopefully continue to grow, but in the end it will not change very quickly. Maybe we need to learn how to apply them differently, but that's ok, because it is an opportunity to still be able to apply what we already know and maybe be able to grow into something new still.
Top comments (0)