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Phong Duong
Phong Duong

Posted on • Originally published at phongduong.dev on

It's OKAY to not know everything

There are many fields in programming. Each field contains many topics. We can't learn and know all of them.

As a developer, I want to learn new frameworks and libraries. But there are many frameworks and libraries created every day. Learning all of them is impossible.

When I started learning web development, I wanted to learn all tools that I was suggested, from programming languages to libraries. Because I thought I would become a professional developer. This made me feel nervous because I can't keep up with the releasing pace.

After I joined a tech company as an intern, I was assigned to a PHP project. Although I worked with PHP, I also wanted to learn other programming languages and tools my company was using. I thought I could be fired if I couldn't use them.

Fortunately, I got the developer job and continued working on this project for almost 1 year. I was also assigned to some PHP projects. Some of them had been written 3 - 4 years ago. I only maintained and updated some minor features. It made me realize that although the technology changed rapidly, the projects did not. Companies didn't want to upgrade to the latest versions of technologies. If the project was working well, there is no reason to change.

At that time, I also knew about Node.js. It was really interesting. You can write Javascript on both front-end and back-end. I decided I would stick with it and be a full-stack Javascript developer. Because I was tired and lazy. I was tired because I try to learn so many things but not use them much. I was lazy because the time was not enough for me. So I wanted to focus on only one thing. This was better.

Now I don't rush to learn new technologies as I did. I am not afraid of being obsolete. I learn new technologies due to being curious. If I want to create something, I will learn a library. I only learn the fundamental and non-technical topics. I love it.

If you just start learning web development or being a professional developer, you don't need to learn all of the latest technologies. Just learn the fundamentals and master them. You should also learn soft-skill. It is important. Although technologies change every day, companies don't change that much. I hear that some projects were written over the decades but still using old technologies.

You don't become a professional developer if you learn all technologies. You also don't become obsolete if you don't learn new technologies. Pick something you want to learn and stick with it. As long as you know the fundamentals, there are many opportunities for you.

It's OKAY to not know everything. Be patient and enjoy learning.

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