This weekend, I made the trip up to New York for Code Camp NYC. After one of the sessions, I got to talking with a veteran of the industry. Our conversation went something like this:
Him: So what do you do?
Me: I'm a Java developer at a large insurance company
Him: Don't you want to do something more exciting?
Me: Not right now, I'm enjoying really learning the ins and outs of Java and getting better at it
Him: I probably know more about the Java language than you ever will. Why keep at it when you can become the expert in a new technology within a year?
This threw me for a loop and I stared quizically at him for a few seconds.
How to become an international speaker
We had just heard a presenter casually mention how he became an international speaker in the software space:
- Learn a new technology
- Submit an abstract on that technology to a few developer gatherings in different countries
- Get accepted, pay for your own flights, and give your talk
Voila! You are now an international speaker!
So who knew that becoming a recognized expert in something could really be that simple?
The Barbell Strategy
Let's take it one step further, there's a reason why software industry veterans are able to risk a year learning a new technology: they always have their commodity language to fall back on in case the new technology fails.
Within the framework of Nassim Taleb's "Antifragile," a barbell strategy is a dual investment in a extremely safe and extremely risky asset. In our case, our extremely safe asset is the ability to develop in a language with a lot of developers and a lot of demand(Java, SQL, HTML). The extremely risky asset is the ability to develop in emerging technologies with fewer developers and small but rising demand(Scala, Erlang, Go).
The key to the barbell strategy is that safe assets don't depreciate or risk disappearing. They have limited upside and near-zero risk. Safe assets are the foundation on top of which you can make small investments in risky assets.
The risky assets have an uncapped upside and large risk. Their value could disappear overnight or skyrocket. Small investments in risky assets with potentially disproportionate returns means potentially high returns and a capped downside (only the small initial investment).
Different Languages, Different Results
Coming back to languages, having a solid understanding of an in-demand language means job security. If you know Java, SQL, HTML then there's a job out there waiting for you with regular wages, job security, and (probably) cubicles.
However, being an expert in a new technology opens up doors to meeting other innovators/early adopters in the field. It also gives you your choice of project to work on, as experts are in short supply.
For my part, I'm continuing to improve at Enterprise Java at work and am tinkering around with Node and React at home.
What have your experiences been with commodity and emerging languages? I'd love to hear from you in the comments!