• From: "Michael Kay" <mike@s...>
• To: "'Rick Marshall'" <rjm@z...>,"'Len Bullard'" <cbullard@h...>
• Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2007 08:59:21 +0100

> The world has changed ...

If it has changed, then I think it has changed in the direction of requiring
developers to be skilled in (or at least capable of using) a much greater
and faster-changing set of tools than in the past. There was a time when you
could spend 15 years being an IBM mainframe COBOL programmer, and you never
touched anything except IBM mainframe COBOL. Today I consult to
organizations that employ six developers who between them use 30 or 40
products and tools, with new options constantly being assessed and adopted.

I guess that you're right that there are many people on both the employer
and employee side who think of developer competence in terms of specific
tools. There are even some universities who pander to this. It's a stupid
attitude, but you're right that it is quite widespread.

Michael Kay
http://www.saxonica.com/

• References:
  • Re: <offtopic>Opinions About Cold Fusion</offtopic>
    • From: Rick Marshall <rjm@z...>