How to choose the right vector of development in the IT field?

Question

Career in IT

Hello, friends. Right off the bat... The thought haunts - how to become a good programmer?
More precisely, I lack a development plan. I understand that in our time, due to the rapid development of technology (although the increase in speed and impending stagnation are already being questioned), it is difficult to create some kind of rigid and structured development plan in the IT field, and human factors can still be added to the compartment. such as: "Tired", "Bored", etc. But I really want to become a pro and create something, create something to be used. Programming as creativity - self-realization. I already asked a question about the NIH syndrome, got good answers, and already from the first commits I began to disassemble Vue. But here are the questions themselves, which I will divide into two parts:
Part 1 (the development process itself):
1. How can you become a pro if you constantly use ready-made libraries and do not write "bicycles"?
2. Is it worth writing bicycles sometimes or is it pointless?
3. My boss said that everything has already been written and it won’t be possible to create something cool (I became limp after these words and did not find any arguments), do you think everything is written? Will there be leaps in programming?
4. Your personal opinion about the full-stack developer. I really like full-stack, ideally I would like to be a developer who does not specialize in something specific ... For example, he quickly reads any code, gets up to date in one language or another, knows the features and gives advice others. Quickly corrects and does. Well, in general, as a Rapid Response Group :). Is it worth developing in this direction, do you need such people, for example, in your team, or is specialization better?
Part 2 (plan):
Ready and open to explore everything. I want to start with mathematics and English in order to read documentation. I love sections on php.net hacker's guide, I like to climb and understand the "guts" of some big systems.
So please suggest some plan of action. For example: Mathematics (discrete, difurs), English (technical), Algorithms (such such). Generally to set a vector.
Many thanks to this community, you always give good advice, I think now there will be a field for reflection.

Answer 1

I answer your questions.
1. A person who knows all the intricacies of React will fumble better than a person who sawed his bike. Yes, the cyclist will learn from his mistakes, but these are childish mistakes. A person who teaches React will see the mistakes in places as children, in places as adults, and knowing how to solve them will be more useful. In addition, when writing his own code, the cyclist will sometimes struggle with the language / machine, which will not affect his professionalism in any way and, as a rule, again, these are childish mistakes.
2. Only for self-study purposes and start-ups. Don't even dare to go to normal production.
3. If your boss is so smart, then let me give me a ready-made solution for speech synthesis in python, for example. What is there, but it is clumsy? Or, for example, let him throw a link to a game where you can change DNA, where there are caravans, space marines ... but what is it, again no? Well, I give you one last chance - the operating system is as popular as Windows, but without intrusive updates and eating 3 times less resources, fitting in Adobe Premiere .... oh, someone has lost ground.
In short, write more and write programs. It's not about how revolutionary the program is, people write thousands of programs about the same thing. All of them differ in that each is convenient, fast and cheap in its own way.
By the way, do you want revolutionary? Write a language that is as user friendly as python for example, that can cross all platforms and is as fast as C. Go ahead!
4. Only if you want to work in startups. Fullstack is like an orthopedist, and despite the fact that the orthopedist knows a lot, it is mainly diarrhea and SARS. In your case it is CRUD and templates will be. Well, it's shorter.
You will need math when you start programming something serious. Full stacks and website builders don't need math. You need an understanding of the architecture, the difference between OOP and FP, and the ability to combine.

Answer 2

Why would you want to be a good programmer? My experience is that you should always think pragmatically only about yourself, and not about the spherical quality of programming.
1) I like to write in Python, but I write in Java - why? I get paid twice as much for Java than for Python.
2) My banking friend jokes that a Java programmer has to be of average quality for his code to work, but at the same time it must be of boil quality so that no one can figure it out except him. This is a direct lever to increase salaries and improve working conditions.
3) It is much more important not to write good code, but to communicate in a team. Then, when there is a place for a team lead, a technical director, they will appoint you, and not the guy who writes code well.

Answer 3

Web developer development map
Coding Interview University
About bicycles: build-your-own-x
Try to write your own database, web server or search engine.
Come on, I believe in you!

Answer 4

But I really want to become a pro and create something, create something to be used.

These are completely unrelated things. A good programmer writes code that is easy to maintain (legible, understandable to other programmers) quickly.
And to create something to be used is more for start-ups, for business, for advertising.
Do you think you had to be a senior developer in order to write Tetris? No. A good idea just came to mind, they implemented it as best they could at first - let's go.

Answer 5

1. And what, the creation of an application consists only in the use of libraries? It’s the dream of all the “voitivists” - I installed a dozen packages and the project is ready! Lepota! That doesn't happen.
2. Sometimes worth it. But the criterion for this "sometimes" is very vague. For example, to implement some ready-made solution in a hurry - a week, your bike - a couple of days. And this difference of five days will give a previously known profit. Or a delay in order to take the time to figure out the implemented solution, even if in two weeks. Then yes, it is justified.
3.

Once, in his youth, Max Planck came to the 70-year-old Professor Jolly and told him that he decided to study theoretical physics.
“Young man,” the venerable scientist replied, “why do you want to ruin your life, because theoretical physics is already basically finished ... Is it worth taking on such a hopeless business ?!

I hope you know who Max Planck is and what he did for physics?
4. My personal opinion is a narrow specialization with the ability, IF VERY NECESSARY, to full stack. I'm a PHP backender, but I can code in modern JS and typeset, although I don't like it. Only in emergency situations.
From your lengthy monologue, the most important thing is not clear - what are you doing now and what level of knowledge?

Answer 6

1. Write bicycles.
2. Worth it, though in most cases it will be pointless.
3. Not true.
4. We are all a bit full-stack in life: fixing a crane and planting a tree. But everyone should have specialization. Personally, I find that productivity is lost when you write like a full stack; at the same time, you should also know what is happening on the other side of the coin (ideally). You can, conditionally, try half a year front, half a year back, having agreed with the team. And then you draw your own conclusions.

Answer 7

Read books and code a lot and everywhere

Answer 8

2. Is it worth writing bicycles sometimes or is it pointless?
if you only need the functionality that is in the finished products, and the rest is not needed in them, then SOMETIMES it makes sense to make something of your own.
This stage is just good for evolving into an architect and tech lead, in order to understand not only your site (for example, only Laravel or just python), but the whole process and the whole structure of project development. So that you, a laraveler, don’t get noodles about bootstrap, so that you can understand whether the front is written on grids, etc.
yes, we need

Answer 9

I myself am now tormented by a similar question and I am studying English .

Answer 10

1. How can you become a pro if you constantly use ready-made libraries and do not write "bicycles"?
2. Is it worth writing bicycles sometimes or is it pointless?
3. My boss said that everything has already been written and it won’t be possible to create something cool (I became limp after these words and did not find any arguments), do you think everything is written? Will there be leaps in programming?

The fact that you are thinking about such topics already indicates that you are on the right track.
Don't listen to your boss. There are some ... they sit in the swamp for years, and they think that this is how it should be.
PS On the topic of bicycles, I recommend this course from Dmitry Eliseev:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4iqxN0nfTs
In the same place, at the very beginning, the author tells why it is needed.