New chapter: specialists vs generalists

content/books/things-i-learnt/_index.md

@@ -68,3 +68,5 @@ template = "section-contentless.html"
 	* [Code Formatting Tools Are Ok, But No Silver Bullet](code-formatters)
 	* [Code Style: Follow It](code-style)
 	* [... Unless That Code Style Is The Google Code Style](google-code-style)
+* Personal
+	* [Companies Look For Specialists But Keep Generalists Longer](specialists)

content/books/things-i-learnt/google-code-style/index.md

@@ -16,4 +16,4 @@ The only reason to use Google Code Style is in case someone less smart than
 you decided it would be a good idea to use it. Then, I feel sorry for you, but
 you'll have to follow Google Code Style.
 
-{{ chapters(prev_chapter_link="/books/things-i-learnt/code-style", prev_chapter_title="Code Style: Follow It") }}
+{{ chapters(prev_chapter_link="/books/things-i-learnt/code-style", prev_chapter_title="Code Style: Follow It", next_chapter_link="/books/things-i-learnt/google-code-style", next_chapter_title="... Unless That Code Style Is The Google Code Style") }}

content/books/things-i-learnt/specialists/index.md

@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
++++
+title = "Things I Learnt The Hard Way - Companies Look For Specialists But Keep Generalists Longer"
+date = 2019-07-17
+
+[taxonomies]
+tags = ["en-au", "books", "things i learnt", "jobs", "specialists", "generalists"]
++++
+
+If you know a lot about one single language, it may make it easier to get a
+job, but in the long run, language usage dies or loses its charms and you'll
+need to find something else. Knowing a bit about a lot of other languages
+helps in the long run, not to mention that may help you think of better
+solutions.
+
+<!-- more -->
+
+Even if you're in a shop that is mainly in one single language, that's no
+excuse to not check other languages. But, then again, learning languages that
+are just small changes on the current language would not help you either.
+
+Alan Perlis, author of the ALGOL language, has one excellent phrase: "A
+language that doesn't affect the way you think about programming, is not worth
+knowing."
+
+I still maintain one single rule for programming languages: The language I use
+at work must not be the same language I use outside it[^1]. That simple rule
+made sure I was always learning something new.
+
+Learning a new language can also help you understand things in some language
+you used before: Rust help me understand how generics works in Java; seeing
+how to do dependency injection in C++ help me understand how Spring does it in
+Java.
+
+On top of that, because I was always learning something new, moving between
+projects was something that happened a lot. At one point, I was hired to work
+with Python, but the contract was taking too long to be signed, and my manager
+asked if I could help some other team with their iOS application. Because I
+did learn a bit about Objective-C, surely I could help. Later, another project
+in C show up and guess who also knew C?
+
+[^1]: ... which led me into some sad times when I was working with Python.
+
+{{ chapters(prev_chapter_link="/books/things-i-learnt/google-code-style", prev_chapter_title="... Unless That Code Style Is The Google Code Style") }}