Choosing the perfect language/techology to work with

Before Flutter, I didn't know what I wanted to do as a programmer. I've tried different languages and technologies in university and by myself, and nothing made me happy.

I've taken a half-year online course on PHP/Laravel for beginners at school. Created a simple website for a cafe and forgot about this technology. Moved to Russia, where everyone around was saying that it is not mainstream anymore. "Look how cool are Python and Node.js," they said.

I've started learning Python/Django during my second year at uni. Learned a lot (at least I thought so) while working on small projects as a full-stack for other students. Several times in 1,5 years period tried to land a job as a python backend developer - failed. Funny that I've actually couldn't answer questions like "What is a hashtable lookup time complexity? What is a context manager in python?". Yeah, my knowledge of theory sucked. So I've decided to read Mark Lutts' thick book on python and try again - failed.

One day, I was looking through vacancies on HeadHunter and realized that there are so much more Java backend developer vacancies for interns and juniors in Saint-Petersburg. More vacancies - more chances to get a job. So I've started to think about switching to Java. And I've almost done that. I've tried and wasn't excited about it at all. I wanted something cooler and trendier, like Node.js.

Hopefully, at that very time, I've stumbled across Flutter. I've tried it out, liked it, and decided to do as much as I can to get my first software engineering job in a company - success.

What is the moral of the story?

This post's initial title was "The sooner you decide on what you want to specialize in, the better." But in the process of writing, I've realized that this is just half of the truth. Another half in that you should try to know what you like the most. And even if you choose to switch technology, you still have some knowledge and experience, that may be applicable in the future.

At the end comes this moment, where you have to commit to hard work for several months/years. Focus on consistency. Have a road map with clearly defined milestones. And you will succeed. Cause after all, programming is not so hard.

#career #thoughts