Can you be a specialist or everyone is a "Jack of all trades"?

A specialist is someone with a focused knowledge in a domain. The level of the knowledge is not mentioned usually...and so nobody can challenge the specialist status....so it's mostly on you to call yourself a specialist.

So if you know something just a bit better than something else, can you say that you are a specialist?

Let's say I am a Java specialist/expert...is this enough for me to design and write a network application...and deploy it? ... Or do I need some knowledge about deployment and network architectures?

...or if I am Spring specialist/expert than is that enough to know how to deploy my microservice to a Docker container? Or should I know how to write Docker files...and use Jenkins to build the image for me....

You can be a specialist in a technology...framework...whatever...but you also need to know tons of other things too...to live in this IT world.

...but if you know so many things...than there is little chance to be specialist/expert in all of them...right?...unless you are Tony Stark.

...than can you look in the mirror ...in the morning...and call yourself a specialist/expert/senior developer? ... than why the titles in the email signature?

The rush for DevOps

DevOps became a buzzword and nowadays I feel that none understands it's true meaning...everyone wants to just do DevOps...but in their rush they end up inventing jobs and producing more work than solving problems.

For me, DevOps is the area when you combine development and coding with the software delivery and sometimes maintenance....and we live in a world when a true developer has to know the whole cycle...because that's how our world is ...fast and agile...where we need software out as fast as possible, there for the testers or the end users.

...but when your only job is to do DevOps, all you can think of is how many more steps you can add to the pipeline...and how you can use this or that plugin in the CI tools...and you tend to loose focus from the actual goal...remember? we are solving problems for our end users...with our products.

We have to find the balance...between too much DevOps and no DevOps at all.

When you end up having a DevOps team that is more than 20% of your actual development team than you might have to ask yourself some questions...and more so if that process you have in place for delivering software is so complex that none understands it...that's when you'll have too much DevOps.


Find your zen place and stay in balance...it does not matter what others think about your DevOps...until you deliver often and securely.

Are you a fanboy?

Fanboys are hard to argue with... the seem possessed.

I am sure you met someone who is obsessed with a certain framework, and all they can see is "how beautiful" that technology is. and that it solves every problem...it's a silver bullet... they are in love.

There is no sens to argue with them...you will always loose...maybe not in the argument...but for sure your relationship will suffer.

The wiser are not fanboys...they always look at the big picture...and don't go all-in into a technology.

Probably it is better if you choose to stay on both of your feet...use one technology but always keep an eye on the others....mix and match....the truth is always in the middle.

Are you a fanboy?

...I used to be...but than I matured...I guess ;)

Disclaimer: please don't get this as an insult, please consider this gender neutral.