generalism is bullsh**t

Frontend is NOT dead.

Backend is also NOT dead.

Regardless of AI, full-stack engineers who want to be great will still have to SPECIALIZE first... And only then, move into full-stack.

Or they will be just another “know-it-all, but can’t get anything done” type of dev.

A generalist software engineer who knows many frameworks and platforms… But has depth in none of them… Is as good as a walking version of Claude Code!

They will get beaten by a specialized engineer in any given task. 

The specialized engineer will understand what the issue is faster, what to ask AI for, and how to correct it.

Chefs specialize. Doctors specialize. Even comedy shows do it (politics, satire, gossip).

The same for AI agents. 

I bet my 2 cents that specialized AI performs much better than generic ones at any given task.

That’s because specialization is mathematically proven to get better results.

Nature tried this billions of years ago.

Animals that survived are the ones that are most specialized to the environment they live in.

Don't belive me?

Try being a camel in the Arctic or a seal in the desert.

In biology, trying to be a generalist will actually work against you: “A generalist carries traits suited to many environments but optimal for none.”

For the folks saying...

“Oohh, but the lines are blurring. Everyone will be everything these days. Frontend will do backend. Backend will do frontend. Product Managers will write code. Designers too. Software Engineers will do UX design or communication…”

You have no idea what you're all yapping about! 

The time that a Product Manager spends coding is time they are not investing into actually figuring out if we are building the right thing in the first place!

They are “one shooting” some crappy piece of code instead of really finding out if users give a sh**t about what the company is building. Or communicating that to stakeholders. 

All these activities have a higher ROI than coding for a PO.

Same for backend vs. frontend engineers. 

Specialization is superior no matter what you do. This is a universal law, like the law of gravity. 

And AI changes none of those. 

(Sure, there is a risk of specializing for too long and getting stuck in your own niche. Yes, scale changes things. At some point, the FE Engineer has to learn backend to keep growing. But only after they mastered the frontend first!) 

Many frontend engineers come to us desperate to learn System Design.

But when Bogdan and I look at their technical assessments, we realize their biggest, more urgent gaps are usually in the frontend first. JavaScript fundamentals, in-depth browser knowledge, etc. 

They go to technical interviews dreaming about load balancers and come back rejected because of simple closures. 

“Ohhh Dragos… But I don’t even find Frontend Engineering job postings right now. Or backend. They all want either Fullstack Engineers… Or AI Engineers”.

My friend, most companies don’t know what the f**ck they want. 

So, sell them what they think they want, but give them what they need. 

Learn to think like a full-stack engineer. Speak like an AI maniac. 

But, at the end of the day, focus on the specialized skills that actually get the job done. The boring stuff that’s not getting views on YouTube anymore. Fundamentals. Old SWE principles. Etc. 

When the bubble pops and the wave is gone, we're going to see who has been swimming naked. 

Hundreds of developers with fancy titles but no in-depth knowledge who are using AI is not a future that can last the test of time. 

But hey, that’s just my opinion and my 2 cents. 

It's your life.

Do the thinking yourself! 

Ohh, and yes, if you are a JS Engineer, meaning you work with JavaScript/TypeScript and its frameworks on the FE, BE or FS…

Then let’s get you to Senior so you can leave all the clowns outsourcing their skills to AI behind and be the big winner in this sh**tstorm. 

Book a chat here, and let’s talk.

Stay cool and specialize,

Dragos