Is diversifying my programming knowledge good?

Question

I have skills in so many programming languages, such as Java, C++, C, Obj-C, Scala, Haskell, and Matlab. However I don't know/like web programming at all. I also get bored very quickly. Thus I haven't work with any Java projects that's bigger than say 20-30 java files.

I'm finishing off my degree and I want to work as a developer, particularly in mobile area. Do I have enough skills to be recruited by good companies?

Answer 1

You seem to have the foundation to be a solid generalist, and that's a good thing, but your dislike of web and/or Java and/or anything in particular related to coding is at odds with this strength. For someone who says they're interested in mobile, it's odd that you would completely eliminate Android coding from your repertoire with idiosyncratic hangups.

Mental blocks like 'I don't like web programming' can severely limit your progress, esp in someone just starting out. If you want to get into mobile, you will have to get into web as well. It may turn out that the two eventually become basically indistinguishable, but even if mobile web platforms like JQ Touch/Sencha/Rhodes etc. and/or HTML 5 in general don't overtake native mobile coding altogether, they will be closely linked for the foreseeable future. I've yet to work on a mobile app that didn't hand off to a web view at some point.

So, it seems you have a good foundation. My advice to you is: get over your hangups and be open to learning whatever is important to the technical space you want to be in.

Answer 2

You might not like getting into developing mobile apps if you have no interest in web programming, since there are a lot of toolkits floating around based on html/javascript for the front-end. (Not everything, of course.) There's still plenty of embedded software work for good C++/C/Obj-C developers out there though as far as I know.

Answer 3

However I don't know/like web programming at all. I also get bored very quickly

Then find something that interests you. That's far more important than any skill you can teach yourself in a few months. If web programming is too mundane for you (nothing wrong with that), maybe look into AI fields like natural language processing, robotics, computer vision.

Answer 4

Try to ship a game or an app in whatever platform you please. It does not matter if it tanks. The experience of shipping something to somebody other than yourself would actually make you a lot more valuable. Besides, if you have a good enough command over the languages that you mentioned, you are already employable.

As the world is moving towards large scale computing, infrastructural components like web servers and databases are being rethought. Try contributing in terms of bug fixes or even evangelizing tools like Nginx, MongoDB, Cassandra or Riak. I am not sure if you would count them in the category of web programming but these tools promise us a better web.