Pitfalls of full-stack developer, #thuglife

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Let's face it. As an Oracle APEX developer you are a full-stack developer whenever you like it or not. And if you are one, you know what I am talking about. If not, brace yourself.

As APEX developer you have to know APEX. But you also have to know SQL and PL/SQL. It is not realistic to build real/complex app without that. If you are into customizing the look and feel (UI and UX) you will have to know HTML5 and CSS (and design, color theory, typography...) and you will have to know a lot about JavaScript.

You also have to know the database design (including a data modeller tool), architecture and administration basics (how database works), at least basics about security, possibly also the performance tuning. The more you know, the easier it will be for you to overcome obstacles. Then you can throw in the cloud thingy, which is also a dedicated profession. Let's add DevOps, middleware, real programming languages for things you can't do in database...

On top of that you have to do requirements analysis, business analysis, data analysis... You have to know about testing and you have to be able to write meaningful tests. You have to be able to write documentation, provide constant updates to management and often talk to clients directly. Few years back it was normal to have at least one business analyst on the team, at least one tester who also wrote documentation. We had project manager who was actually doing his job. Not these days, these days you might be doing everything. Add endless meetings draining your life and a wide range of soft-skills...

How about research and trying new things? Are you even doing that? How about the popular big words like machine learning, data science, AI? These days you learn something and it became obsolete very quickly. You have to keep an eye on new technologies. Did you learned Vue? Cool, now learn Angular. And now React. And next year you will have to learn another popular JS framework which someone above decide for you.

Just check all the tech required to know in any full-stack job advertisement. Typically a whole IT department for a price of one developer. The amount of knowledge, time and effort dedicated to keeping it fresh is far beyond what a typical manager is able to grasp. Don't be afraid to say you don't know this or that. You are not alone. You should not be. I have learned something in corporates: until you say no, they will ask you to do more. So say no before you burn out.

You have to pick what you will learn. At one point in your life, when you learn something new, you will forget something else. Also it does not make sense for you to learn .NET, VB macros or whatever your boss asked you to do, if it doesn't make sense to you. In my experience the wider you go, the less you know in depth. If your stack contains 5+ languages, you are probably not great at all of them. If (you think) you know 10+ languages, then you are a duct tape developer. You can fix things here and there, but you will never create a masterpiece.

From my point of view the knowledge I have to have is too wide. I am not great at CSS as I would like to be. I am not great at JavaScript, but I would like to be. I have to improve my Python skills too. I also should know more about many other things but there is not enough time to do that.

Ironically, from my boss point of view I am too much specialized. I am the APEX guy who does the frontend thingy and is refusing to learn new cool tech like Postgre and React. LOL

Go to your dentist and ask him for MRI or EKG. It is just a head. It is just a brain. Ridiculous, yet true. How about doing a plastic surgery while you are there? Or a prostate check? You would not do that and you would not want that. Yet, there is no budget for another specialist.