Suggestions Reqd

[Rajesh Govindapillai]

Hi,

I'm currently working as a lead at a leading Indian MNC. This has been my first job and have been here for close to 6+yrs. With so much yrs of experience, i am very worried that my area of expertise is limited just to Servlets (MVC), JSP and ofcourse HTML, Javascript, Shell scripting,Core Java (1.4) DB2/ a little bit of Oracle PL/SQL skills. I have always wanted to learn and try to implement frameworks such as Struts, Spring etc. and am planning to begin a self study. Since there was no scope for me to learn on-the-job, i have decided to try n learn on my own.

I am in need of suggestions if my current expertise and a theoretical knowledge of other frameworks will help me fetch a decent lead/managerial position.

This might be a silly question, but any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks.

[Deepak Bala]

The more knowledge you have the better. That said there are tons of frameworks out there. Try to learn the ones that are used the most, if landing another job is your goal.

I know developers that do not use spring / struts / hibernate to get their job done. Writing an API that parses PDF files is an example. Depending on what you want to learn and what your goals are, you can choose to...

1. Learn more frameworks
2. Contribute to open source projects to improve your development abilities
3. Learn a new programming language
and so on

You can also participate in programming contests like topcoder.com or codechef.com. That will keep your mind sharp

[Victor Ramen]

Rajesh Govindapillai wrote:Hi,

I'm currently working as a lead at a leading Indian MNC. This has been my first job and have been here for close to 6+yrs. With so much yrs of experience, i am very worried that my area of expertise is limited just to Servlets (MVC), JSP and ofcourse HTML, Javascript, Shell scripting,Core Java (1.4) DB2/ a little bit of Oracle PL/SQL skills. I have always wanted to learn and try to implement frameworks such as Struts, Spring etc. and am planning to begin a self study. Since there was no scope for me to learn on-the-job, i have decided to try n learn on my own.

I am in need of suggestions if my current expertise and a theoretical knowledge of other frameworks will help me fetch a decent lead/managerial position.

This might be a silly question, but any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks.

I have a similar background...so I hear your groan.
You did not mention it , but obviously time is an issue and you know going ahead..with pressures of family and all rising, this is only going to be worse. So maybe learning a lot of things 'on the side' is possible only in theory.
here is what I am trying in my project. As you design/develop/enhance your application, routinely point out design flaws/errors etc...highlight them to customer, suggest a new technology that will fix the error and persuade manager to help you with skilled resources. If the project is using only the technologies you mentioned, then of course it has flaws that can be corrected using modern technologies.
This is not a fool proof plan of course..and there are many 'easier said than done' scenarios involved...but it is more doable than jumping into an open source project that is already using latest technologies. Too big of a catch up to do.
Hope this helps and good luck !

[Jeanne Boyarsky]

Victor Ramen wrote: As you design/develop/enhance your application, routinely point out design flaws/errors etc...highlight them to customer

Highlighting issues directly to the customer doesn't typically endear you to the development team. I recommend pointing things out internally. Coming up with a plan to mix with your manager's agreement will still get you credit.

[Victor Ramen]

Jeanne Boyarsky wrote:

Victor Ramen wrote: As you design/develop/enhance your application, routinely point out design flaws/errors etc...highlight them to customer

Highlighting issues directly to the customer doesn't typically endear you to the development team. I recommend pointing things out internally. Coming up with a plan to mix with your manager's agreement will still get you credit.

Yes. Thanks for articulating it

[Campbell Ritchie]

You need to be very careful what you tell customers. If they think you are offering something outwith the contract specification they will want it. You will end up providing features and enhancements without being paid for them.