Is it risky specialising in an unpopular framework early on?

[Richard Peck]

Some people still code with Lisp (quite why I have no idea) and C++ hasn't done too badly, either.

But in the end, people pay for the solution not the code. I am heavily into Rails development which has had the infamous "death" sentence from a number of people over the years... but is still booming & the community is as vibrant as ever. Each framework has its pros & cons - the trick is being able to integrate into a stack which is going to be supported in the future. Grails doesn't fit that picture in most cases (unless you have some weird proprietary thing going on).

Why are you so hung up with Grails? If you're a Java guy why not get into ReactJS/Angular? Sounds to me like you're trying to put a square peg in a round hole...

Hey guys,

I'm look for a bit of advice as a potential first timer. How risky is it to go contracting 4 years into my career, and continue specialising in a framework which is not very popular and has been declining in popularity significantly over the past couple of years? (Grails)

Is it better to do this (i.e a lot less opportunities, but more likely to get them when they appear), or should I go more "mainstream" for a couple of years at a permie role (java, spring boot, microservices) and then start contracting in those? (will have hundreds of more potential opportunities, but a lot more competition for them)

When I search job boards I only see between 1 - 3 jobs related to Grails for contracting, but for Java/Spring I see 30+.

My main worry is that in 2 years+ opportunities for Grails will be even more limited then they are now, and it will start to become a struggle to find contracting roles. Also looking way further down the line, in 5 - 10 years I will have pigeon-holed myself in a framework which is no longer used.

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

[Hobosapien]

There's a reason it's niche and for that reason be wary of dead-ending yourself before you've even found the right road you want to travel.

Personally if I had to choose a tech to get behind it would be one that's likely to be big in the near future that has little resource available at the moment.

I remember a few years ago when Microsoft Team Foundation Server came out, the client I was with at the time wanted to use it to replace Source Safe to take advantage (eventually) of the other things it offered. They had to get some guy over from Israel (IIRC) to do the install, config and training and it cost them quite a lot but they were looking at the long game. I did consider finding a crash course in TFS at the time but then the window passed and I believe it's quite a popular and therefore well resourced and in demand product now.

No idea how that translates to contract availability though. I guess there are ways of searching such things.

So find something up and coming that's likely to have legs (an industry big player behind it) and get in on the ground floor.

[swamp]

Either go generalist Java dev or niche expensive commercial product.

What ever you do, stick with 'good' technologies. Grails definitely isn't one of them.

[northernladyuk]

Wow, this is a real mixture of advice; so generic as to be utterly useless, combined with so lacking in context as to be...

'...combined with such a lack of context...'

You might need to be able to write modern English in well constructed sentences with some semblance of formatting too, although I've met plenty of developers who can't.

[SeanT]

You need to be a good java developer, so many people aren't you need to be able to write modern java 1.7-1.8 and soon it'll be 1.9. You need to know the libraries
that are in demand which are ones that I have mentioned. You need to know the surrounding tooling and be good at interviews and bone up on your technical testing
, because you will be up against guys with the last 6 projects were hardcore java in a contract environment who can ace the tests. This is the same for any skill
you also need to have good interview technique a cv that demonstrates what you did at your last position and an answer to the question "why did you become a contractor"

You might need to be able to write modern English in well constructed sentences with some semblance of formatting too, although I've met plenty of developers who can't.

[Sparky25]

Wow, this is a real mixture of advice; so generic as to be utterly useless, combined with so lacking in context as to be...

Then let me clarify to be crystal clear.

You need to be a good java developer, so many people aren't you need to be able to write modern java 1.7-1.8 and soon it'll be 1.9. You need to know the libraries
that are in demand which are ones that I have mentioned. You need to know the surrounding tooling and be good at interviews and bone up on your technical testing
, because you will be up against guys with the last 6 projects were hardcore java in a contract environment who can ace the tests. This is the same for any skill
you also need to have good interview technique a cv that demonstrates what you did at your last position and an answer to the question "why did you become a contractor"

[SeanT]

You really want to have great general skills and know spring and spring-boot.

Wow, this is a real mixture of advice; so generic as to be utterly useless, combined with so lacking in context as to be...

[Sparky25]

Honestly

You really want to have great general skills and know spring and spring-boot.

Once you know them and have recent project experience with both then look at going contracting. It can be difficult getting anything if your last piece of work did not include the skills people are looking for as the art of being a contractor is that you have the skill they don't have and can demonstrate that.

[ChimpMaster]

I stuck to niche (aka dead) tech but only because the situation evolved like it did.

It lasted me just over 10 years of contracting. Now I'm too old and lazy/drained to learn anything new. I'm winding down my contract career with probably another year at most to go. I've had a fortunate 10 years and my age is such that I don't mind coming off the crack-fest that contracting is.

But if I had a choice at the beginning of it all, I would have liked to have contracted in newer or more in-demand skills. It would have meant that I didn't see each contract as the possible-final-one and would have been able to spend more of the money rather than save due to expecting to be out of work forever soon.

[BlasterBates]

Unless it's the next new fad, but this sounds like one of those quirky frameworks that isn't going to catch on. You want to be a Spring expert. No harm in working in Grail but you need to make sure your Spring skills are up to date.

[BrilloPad]

Lets say the consensus is "its 1% risky". It then goes wrong. You would come back and complain at us.

However it just means you are unlucky.

And that you are one of the 99.9% who don't understand statistics(which is intuitively very difficult for humans).

You could stick niche. It might end up with fewer roles however even fewer with the skills. Or you go mainstream. Which gets offshored and everyone gets in.

Personally - I would go niche and take my chances. Then if it goes wrong get another permanent role.

And keep adding to the warchest.

You may have a very different risk profile to me.

[t0bytoo]

I've been working with Rails for about ten years. Every now and then I realise I need to get on with the next skillset but work keeps on coming and they are fairly big projects. So I'm confident that there is 'still enough' for me.

I'd be wary of Grails though. Doesn't look like there's enough now to guarantee there will be some new projects in a few years time.

[SueEllen]

Go mainstream.

There are a lot of people around with both mainstream skills and niche skills. They have the advantage over you that they can work with either or both. This means when the niche skill declines or dies they can still easily get work.

Personally if you can get as high as possible as a permie before going contracting as you will make more money.

[Devel]

Hey guys,

I'm look for a bit of advice as a potential first timer. How risky is it to go contracting 4 years into my career, and continue specialising in a framework which is not very popular and has been declining in popularity significantly over the past couple of years? (Grails)

Is it better to do this (i.e a lot less opportunities, but more likely to get them when they appear), or should I go more "mainstream" for a couple of years at a permie role (java, spring boot, microservices) and then start contracting in those? (will have hundreds of more potential opportunities, but a lot more competition for them)

When I search job boards I only see between 1 - 3 jobs related to Grails for contracting, but for Java/Spring I see 30+.

My main worry is that in 2 years+ opportunities for Grails will be even more limited then they are now, and it will start to become a struggle to find contracting roles. Also looking way further down the line, in 5 - 10 years I will have pigeon-holed myself in a framework which is no longer used.

Any thoughts would be appreciated!