How can you decide whether to specialize in a programming language or become a generalist?

The assumption is inherently flawed - there is no such thing as "generalist". At least not anymore. Every application developer has to be able to write high-quality code in at least one language to be taken seriously and build their career. Sure, they have to add other skills such as (non)relational databases, security modalities, networking, etc., but they complement the core capability and never replace it. I don't recall a job posting for "Generalist".. there is a core competence that's expected in every role - find yours.

Everything is temporary, especially in IT. I have been a specialist in Assembly, C, C++, C#, Perl, Bash, Python, R and a few others. For a time, I learned and became an expert in the syntax and libraries that fit the job well. Now over 40years later, after specializing 15 times, I’m a really good generalist who understands how all the tools in the box work and when to apply each one. Specializing today is much easier and faster because I’ve learned the rhythm of IT and the patterns in how the languages work. It’s almost like I am one with the software and it is my happy place.

Deciding whether to specialize in a programming language or become a generalist depends on your career goals, personal interests, and the job market. Here are some factors to consider: 1. Job market demand 2. Personal interests 3. Career goals 4. Industry trends

It totally depends on the individual's learning style, personal goals and market trends. Being a generalist, you have more opportunities to grow and evolve with changing technologies. In My perspective, if you are in a development profile, you need to be well-versed with all the standards and practices to be followed for a high-quality application. Specialization in one language is a must so that you understand all the challenges.

Well stated! My software degree is from "days gone by" where I became rather successful with Pascal on a DEC Vax. :) Things have changed just a bit since then, LOL. Focusing on the foundations of software like logic mechanics is time well spent.

you cant build more complex and advanced applications or projects because they always use more than one programming language.

Learning different programming languages exposes developers to various ways of thinking and problem-solving. It helps them understand the strengths and weaknesses of the languages they use. I recommend focusing deeply on two or three languages while also picking up a new one each year. This approach not only makes developers more skilled but also adaptable to changes in the tech world. Focusing exclusively on a single programming language can limit your opportunities. It may hinder your involvement in exciting projects and job prospects. Moreover, aspiring to roles like a team lead or CTO requires a broader perspective. To effectively choose the best technologies for your team you must have knowledge across multiple technologies.

It any business you need to understand the underlying business drivers for any system. Specialisation might adversely affect this. Specialisation also implies more narrow prospective and hinders the ability to think outside the box. Overspecialiation might hinder job opportunities in situations where more flexibility is required.

Late career (30 years) job placement becomes a very serious issue with specialization. I don't regret specializing. It just means that getting a job becomes exponentially more difficult.

Occasionally you’ll have to do a deep dive into the source code of the language and be expected to know about the compiling process, which can require extensive research.

Generalists Rule. It is as simple as that. In my experience at Google we hire ‘Software Engineers‘ and we expect them to figure out intricacies of actual programming language as needed.

Generalizing permits to grasp the fundamentals of multiple programming languages and programming paradigms. Multiple inheritance is not implemented in all languages but it is a very interesting feature of C++. Lambda calculus is the foundation for functional programming. Modern languages all include the lambda operator, higher order functions etc. By adopting a generalized perspective, we are getting insights on the different ways of solving problems - from the procedural paradigm to the logical and object-oriented ones - and gaining an adaptable programming skillset.

As someone who has worked with many languages and tends to be a generalist, I have only specialized and invested in a language when it saved me and my colleagues time by being easier to read and write, having a medium learning curve, and having a high productivity rate. (JS in this case); other than that, I highly believe being a generalist has allowed me to ship multiple projects and work in different business domains, which is not likely when you are attached to only one language.

Being a generalist has helped me from shaping myself from a back-end developer to learning internals of QA Automation as well as devops processes. Eventually, the same technical clarity helped understand the front-end frameworks along with the Accessibility API of the web and native worlds. This allows me to drive multiple projects and ventures in Tech-Accessibility space. This has helped our organization deliver multiple Accessibility remediations for various clients. This also creates more trust among clients letting them have more choices in limited resources with a trade-off on midium learning curve.

I certainly have my preferences of technologies and tools, but technologies and tools change daily. What stays the same is problems need solving. Generalists specialize in problem solving. Ya, I know what I said. It is a specialty to be a Generalist because part of the role is being willing to continually learn new tools and techniques to solve useful problems, and that's it's own kind of skill set. It takes a certain comfort with feeling like you don't know what you're doing every day. If you feel like you got this, you're already falling behind. It may take longer to skill up in some areas than specialists. Knowledge tends to be wider than it is deep. However that can help with reasoning about more complex systems.

Generalizing too far leads to a "jack of all trades master of none" skillset. Best approach, IMO, is focusing on a small number of languages and getting very good at each of them. Being a generalist also leads to generalist approaches to architecture, having a mish-mosh of languages and tech stacks with too wide a technology footprint - this then leading to problems such as silo-ing and team performance (developers struggling to pick up applications they haven't worked on before).

Almost none. Today we have IDEs that are guessing the next word you have to type. The main problem is not the language but things such as dependency management which in some environments is horrendous (.Net)

This is very true. While I experiment with new languages regularly and immerse myself in new tech, I wouldn’t dare advertise myself as even a junior in most languages that aren’t my specialty. I tend to write code that, to me, is very readable and easy to understand, but that’s because I’m generally working on my own with new tech. If an experienced programmer or specialist in one of these languages saw my code, they probably wouldn’t consider it idiomatic at all.

No high-salary jobs are for those who just know how to code the basics. Also landing in jobs where you can use several languages is not so easy, hence, a good part of your knowledge will be misused or forgotten.

Generalizar en lenguajes de programación también tiene algunos inconvenientes. Puede sacrificar la profundidad y la calidad, ya que es posible que no pueda escribir código que sea óptimo, elegante o idiomático en cada lenguaje. También es posible que te enfrentes a más desafíos y errores, ya que es posible que no estés familiarizado con los matices, las trampas y las convenciones de cada idioma. También puede tener dificultades para mantenerse al día con la curva de aprendizaje, ya que tiene que aprender y recordar la sintaxis, las características y las bibliotecas de varios idiomas. Generalizar requiere práctica y exposición constantes, ya que tienes que usar y mantener tus habilidades en cada idioma.

As a programmer, I would first assess my interests and strengths. If I have a strong preference for certain types of problems or industries that are closely associated with specific technologies or languages, I might lean towards specialization. If I enjoy learning new things and prefer to have a broad scope of opportunities, I might choose to become a generalist. I would also consider market trends. Specializing in a language or technology that is in high demand can lead to higher pay and more job opportunities. However, markets change, so it’s important to stay adaptable. If I choose to specialize, I'd make sure to keep an eye on the industry to ensure my skills remain relevant.

Both specialists and generalists can be successful career paths, but you need to consider your goals and interests. Specialization is best pursued if you want to climb the professional ladder within an industry or technology. Generalization frequently leads to management or architecture ladders where broad expertise across languages and technologies are required. As others have mentioned in order to be successful on either path, it is important to keep learning and stay on top of industry trends. Many believe that AI will eventually reduce the need for language specialists. Ultimately, AI may take over more complex tasks, but generalists will still be required to design the best solution based on the needs of the business.

When choosing between specialization and generalization, consider future technology trends and how they align with your interests. For example, if you're excited by the prospects of quantum computing or sustainable tech, gearing your skills towards these areas might be more beneficial than following current market demands.

When you are just getting started - Specialize. When you have been at it a while - Generalize. When you have been at it forever - Specialize.

It's not about chose one over the other(generalist over specialist), The best strategy is to be a generalist who's has the ability to rapidly scale their understanding on a specialized topic, it's the rate if learning and pivoting that matters the most as modern tech work can bring unique challenges where people who cannot pivot fast(cause they lack the general idea about that topic or skill) struggle.

This has been absolutely key for my career. While I specialize in Swift and iOS development, I don’t limit myself by any means. I constantly evolve, experiment with new languages and technologies, and get my hands dirty at every opportunity

I can't agree with this more, technology as a whole is not a rigid concept, it changes and improves every day, if you are going to have rigidity in what you learn, you will probably have a solid product... For a while... Flexibility and balance is key...

The matter varies according to the person’s interest, but from my point of view, generalization in the field of software development is a distraction of thought and effort, because now we have many specializations, and each specialization has many tools, and each tool has many libraries and frameworks, so I am a person who leans towards Specialization, however, does not mean that I specialize in a specific language. Rather, I specialize in a specific field and then find the appropriate language for this field. After that, I practice some simple projects in order to know the extent to which my understanding responds to this field and my learning of these tools,after that, I make decision to continue with it or abandon it to search for other.

Balancing specialization and generalization can be achieved by adopting a T-shaped skills model: deep expertise in one area (the vertical bar of the 'T') combined with a broad understanding of related disciplines (the horizontal bar). This approach allows for both depth and versatility.

Focus on ARCHITECTURE/DESIGN, ALGORITHMS, & true ENGINEERING DISCIPLINE (e.g., defensive coding, continuous delivery, optimizing for scale, maintainability, upgradability, resilience, minimum compute & memory cost, etc.) regardless of which programming language you learn. This has become even more true with microservices (which can care less about programming language — instead the focus is on interfaces) and the relative success of generative AI for software code construction. That said, you must know a few programming languages to put those concepts into action, but I generally accommodate what an org is already doing or choose a language fit for purpose when a specialized need exists.

Deciding to specialize in a programming language or become a generalist in IT involves weighing career goals, market demands, and personal preferences. Specializing offers deep expertise, making one sought after for specific roles, while being a generalist provides adaptability across various projects. To decide, evaluate interests, industry trends, and the job market. Specializing suits roles like data science, while a generalist approach fits software engineering. Balancing both by gaining proficiency in a core language while maintaining a broad skill set ensures versatility. Ultimately, align your aspirations with the evolving IT industry.

100% agree with Parag and just to add one more thing is to know as how to connect Mathematics with Computing. Knowing computer architecture always helps to write effective programs!

Programming fundamentals, Design Patterns, Algorithm, Data Structures, Problem Solving, Design Principles are Key. However all said and done having expertise in one specific language would be added advantage.

In my opinion, we need to have one language as a pilot programming language (I highly recomnend C++) and in order to run our business and our tasks, we need to learn some language beside, for example if I know how to use C++ and also I got a job in a C# development field, I will do my best to learn new items and options which C# needs(a lot of rules and syntax in C# is similar to C++ and it is very helpful), or other languages or programming fields like ASP.net core or Java or etc. If I want to go further I will recomnend everybody to learn a scripting language like python(which is very nice), it helped a lot to think about projects abd tasks and helps to have creatibility to do projects a lot.