Developing a Timeless Skill-Set

Note: This post is from sometime before 2007, but it still very much applies today.

The place I’ve been striving for is a place where I can use the proper tool for the job. Each programming language has their strength. Here are your average development languages and their common strength:

• Behavior and Animation = JavaScript
• Functionality = PHP, ASP.NET, Java, Ruby
• Information = HTML, JSON
• Styling Information = CSS
• Media Delivery = HTML5

What if you had a web application that needed to do all of these things…as is common the case ? You need a team of developers that can communicate very well with each other.

Typically you have someone who is of each individual expertise. You have the flash developer, the back-end developer, the HTML/CSS developer, etc. You have defined roles for each area, but I’ve always wanted to break that mold and be a developer that sees what is happening in all areas, from the inside-out. Someone who can develop no matter what new technology comes out or no matter what is the best tool for the job.

I want to develop work that takes advantage of the best of each platform. When new technologies change, I want a skill-set that is timeless and able to learn and utilize whatever is best for the job. I think by learning a diverse amount of technologies you can develop a timeless skill-set. You then don’t have to worry that you will be left in the dust by some revolutionary technology. Thats the goal of being a jack of all trades. To be useful in any situation and to possibly create things that no one else will think of.