{"id":7879,"date":"2015-10-20T12:10:40","date_gmt":"2015-10-20T09:10:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.webcodegeeks.com\/?p=7879"},"modified":"2015-10-20T12:22:46","modified_gmt":"2015-10-20T09:22:46","slug":"highly-productive-web-developers-t-shaped","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.webcodegeeks.com\/web-development\/highly-productive-web-developers-t-shaped\/","title":{"rendered":"Highly productive web developers are T-shaped"},"content":{"rendered":"

Highly productive developers have a deep understanding of their specialization and are incredibly focused. They are rarely confused: they know what\u2019s going on in their project and can find the source of a problem in a flash. They are also skilled in a variety of other subjects and can discuss the relative merits of other technologies with ease.<\/p>\n

\"TShaped\"<\/a>How can you become this way and be productive in your own work? If you want this kind of skills, you must plan to develop your knowledge in a way that allows you to be T-shaped. Put simply, a T-shaped programmer has strong core knowledge in a domain that grounds them and allows them to be effective, which is the base of the T, and other skills in a wide variety of subjects, which is the bar of the T.<\/p>\n

I first heard of the concept of being T-shaped in an article about success (http:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/2013\/04\/09\/to-succeed-in-work-and-life-be-mr-t\/<\/a>) on the the Art of Manliness blog. This is how I\u2019m structuring my own growth, so I was glad to be able to put a name onto it. I also believe this is the most efficient way to develop your skills. Being T-shaped is not something that you\u2019ll achieve in a year or two: rather, this is a lifelong pursuit of growth.<\/p>\n

This is also a good way to invest in your future: if you only have superficial knowledge of many code bases and frameworks, you\u2019re always starting over again without building a strong base of skills. You have to go in depth in a at least one area: once you have a strong grounding, moving to new languages and frameworks will be faster and more effective since you\u2019ll have a stronger understanding of programming itself to start with.<\/p>\n

For a web developer, what is a good plan you can follow to become T-shaped and ultimately become a more productive developer? In my experience, the following knowledge is required as a web programmer if you want to build a proper base for your T. When you\u2019ll have those skills, you\u2019ll be a strong web developer and you won\u2019t fear missing out on new technologies and trends: you\u2019ll have the evergreen knowledge that will allow you to learn new stuff faster.<\/p>\n