The Farmischt Freelancer
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One solicitation for a gig that I recently received was for a back-end developer. It contained the list of need-to-knows that I expected: PHP, Drupal module writing, OOP, MySQL, and so on. However, there was another list below that one, containing more technologies, with which the applicant should be “bullet-proof,” including JavaScript, jQuery, Angular, CSS, Sass, HTML5, PEAR, Apache, Linux shell-scripting, and several more. Despite the job heading, this was clearly a request for a full-stack developer.
Now, I actually can write JavaScript, jQuery, CSS, and HTML5, manage my own Linux server, and configure Apache domains, but I am far from being “bullet-proof” with these technologies. It would make little sense for someone to pay me by the hour to rip my hair out over CSS and JavaScript issues rather than using someone who is adept with them.
Is it because I’m not capable of being bullet-proof? Nope. Over the centuries I’ve written countless programs in 370 Assembler, 1130 Assembler, Mnemonic Assembler, APL, PL/1, Fortran, COBOL, Basic, SPL (the HP one), and on and on. Even Xerox 9700 form language. I was one of those people in the university comp-sci department that people hate; someone who never had to study. Don’t misunderstand. It wasn’t a matter of being better, necessarily, but that my thought process is the jelly to programming logic’s peanut butter. I have known many developers who could code circles around me, but I also have a wealth of experience combining the ability to internalize a client’s business issue and visualizing a solution for crafting it. So, if I think that it’s not simply a matter of aptitude, then what is it?
I have a bit in common with Steve Jobs. Huh? Yeah, really. We both grew up about the same time, were exposed to early computing at a young age, had our first programming experiences via timeshare teletype terminals and early CPU’s with toggle switches, were completely seduced by how software improved and fulfilled our thought process, and we both had part of our foundation poured at Hewlett-Packard.