Too Much ..... Stuff
Posted At : June 14, 2007 1:24 PM | Posted By : Wayne McFetridge
Related Categories: general

These are the things I need to have a fair working knowledge of to complete the average site for a client, XHTML, CSS, ColdFusion (Throw in specific knowledge regarding Framework or CMS of choice, Farcry anyone), SQL and probably a fair wack of design/layout. Mix in the smaller amount of Flash Flex work I do. (AS2 and AS3 , MXML, Flash Remoting knowledge usually ColdFusion backend and /or XML) and you end up with a fairly long list of technologies. I know a fair bit about these things but am no means an expert.

I just wired up an image Gallery solution for a Farcry powered site using Spry (something new) and was feeling some pressure to get my head into PHP (something new that I dont know anything about), especially around the quite cool Drupal CMS (something new that I set up on my mac) for a few jobs that are on the horizon.

This biz seems almost relentless in new and interesting developments that I could/should keep up with. I haven't yet had time to grab the Flex 3 Beta

(mutters to self, "beta beta there is always another beta to keep track of.." sorry not enough sleep and too much coffee )

No wonder I have had a hard time switching my brain of before bed time.

I have decided that enough is enough.

I don't have the time or inclination to be all things to all people. There is enough of a continuous learning exercise to keep up with the developments in CF, Flex 2 and now 3 without going down a whole new path into PHP.

I love staying abreast of what is going on and being able to offer cool solutions to clients but its time to consolidate. I don't want to become a dinosaur but I am getting a lot of work doing what I do and seem to be getting more stuff I can use Flex for all the time.

Now that I've got that of my chest I feel like I may get some sleep tonight.

I am sure that there a plenty of others, especially freelance/independent developers who may be in the same boat.

Is digging in the best decision you ever made or is it the first step to extinction?

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Richard Lord's Gravatar I wouldn't call it digging in. Rather, call it focusing. I've used a lot of programming languages in my time, some a lot(eg PHP) and some a little(eg Coldfusion). Now I focus on Actionscript and PHP. If a job requires a Coldfusion back-end I recommend someone else. I get more work because I have time to be very good at what I have chosen to focus on.
# Posted By Richard Lord | 6/14/07 7:46 PM
Amy's Gravatar How do you like FarCry?
# Posted By Amy | 6/15/07 1:11 AM
cahlan's Gravatar I think you strike a chord with a lot of developers out there.

In my opinion, if you want to stay developing and want to be successful and abreast of new technologies, then you have to be flexible. Focusing is good, but there's definitely a happy medium to be had, otherwise you end up like some outdated software developers I know who constantly have to justify their existence and apologize for their unsupported programs.
# Posted By cahlan | 6/15/07 11:05 AM
Wayne McFetridge's Gravatar @Amy: I like Farcry. It is a beast and takes a bit getting used to but for my purposes, a one man team getting ColdFusion based Content Managed sites out to clients pretty quickly, it is perfect.

I can tinker, and extend to do the things it doesn't do out of the box. I think Drupal would do a better job of rolling out a more "community" based site but for businesses wanting to deliver content and not a lot of interaction then Farcry is excellent.

@cahlan: I totally agree that the danger is in making oneself extinct. I know those people to. Walking a fine line

@Richard - Focusing - thats a nice take on it
# Posted By Wayne McFetridge | 6/15/07 12:27 PM
Joel's Gravatar I feel your pain. My problem is that I love cool technology. There is so much available, so many blogs filled with information, rapid releases of new developing technologies.

I am new to the development end, so I am still toying with a variety, but find myself homing in on a few. I've tried out Ruby on Rails and PHP and I think I will stick to PHP, simply because it shares that common 'c style' structure. I haven't given ColdFusion a go, but I am put off by the hosting. I love the fact that PHP/MYSQL is universal.

The actionscript3 gets me excited. The possibilities are so vast, and there is a strong energy in the community. Too much stuff is good, even if we do need to use some discipline and focus professionally.
# Posted By Joel | 6/17/07 11:48 AM
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