The IT world scares me

[icb01co2]

Hi all,
Im a final year Internet Computing student. Im fairly competent in asp, php, HTML, XML,css, mySQL, Java, Apache, JavaScript, etc, etc, etc.I feel exhausted just thinking about all the stuff I’ve learnt.

Having said that, i still feel ridiculously stupid sometimes, especially when i read new articles or tutorials. Im am currently trying to work out what the hell the real difference is in .NET and Java frameworks. Then i fancy learning programming for mobile devices, then learning more about Java servlets and JSP. Maybe next ill learn .NET, C# or visual studios. Then maybe SOAP, then maybe a bit of SEO. Then finally when im through it'll probably be time to go collect my first pension check and maybe, maybe then i will feel a little less inferior to other developers out there.

Surely, i cant be the only one feeling this sense of dread at a lifetime of steep learning curves, learning acronym after acronym, only to realize that there are another 3 million things i still dont know.

For any of you who consider yourselfs 'experts', at what point did you truely feel like you were no longer simply a foolish observer of this fast moving world? At which point did you feel confident that the questions you asked wouldn't be responded to with an initial 'lol' before the answer?

Aghhh, screw it im going to work as a checkout guy at Tescos.

[benihana]

Personally, id pick an area youre interested in, and get really good at that first.

Having a broad range of skills is good and something that many employers want, but you cannot realistically expect to be excellent at all of them.

A little knowledge in many areas coupled with a lot of knowledge about one or two can be very useful.

jack of all trades = master of none.

[Faglork]

Originally Posted by icb01co2

At which point did you feel confident that the questions you asked wouldn't be responded to with an initial 'lol' before the answer?

At the same time when I was ready to accept my limitations. I try to concentrate on my strong areas, in all other areas I cooperate with people who have the knowledge. I do not feel ashamed to say "I personally cannot help you with this case, I am no expert in this field. I have a partner who can handle this."

Alex

[icb01co2]

Very good points both of you. Think im just feeling the stress as im finishing my degree and will soon have to be launched into the working world. Scary concept for me :-).

[BrowserBob]

Don't let all these technologies out there confuse you. Even as professional software developers we can't always keep track of all this stuff... And here comes the best: we don't even know all compatibilities of our software - clients are showing us technologies that work with our software, we didn't even think of in our dreams... no worries ;-)