Developers Need to Return to Being Adventurers

For my first post, I thought I would start with a lifelong lesson I have learned.

When I was younger, I was eager to learn every new development trend that caught my attention. I was constantly looking for new ways of doing things that expanded my knowledge and improved the development process or made it more interesting.

During that time, I regularly ran into older developers and bosses who seemed reluctant and resistant to everything new coming out. It was quite frustrating at times and also hard to understand why they were so loyal and adamant about their old ways of doing things. They were so resistant to most new options when those options seemed so much better, at least to me.

I remember thinking "these old guys just do not get it". It was not until I got older that I realized I was the one who did not get it. They were not intimidated by newer technology or defensive about their own ways of doing things. They were instead being logical because constantly learning and using new ways of doing things is not practical nor a good use of anyone's time, especially when you are being paid to produce results.

The problem with so many new languages, applications, tools and technologies getting released constantly is that trying to figure out the best things to learn becomes a full-time job all on its own. On top of that, choosing the wrong trends can lead to wasted time on a personal level and wasted money for professional jobs and clients.

That unfortunate reality has caused too many developers to latch on stacks and services created and provided by big tech companies because they carry higher utilization rates in the business world which leads to more career opportunities. That safer mindset has helped popularize big tech stacks and technologies powering those stacks while reducing the adoption rate of independent technologies and concepts.

Developers need to return to being adventurers, not just cogs for big tech self-serving stacks. The next great languages, frameworks and platforms are already out there just waiting for enough developers to notice and use them. Go find them!

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