net - UK (2020-05)

SM: Specialising and focusing on specific project types, skills and tools in a quest for

mastery is a great strategy for many people. But I believe that everyone who does

choose to specialise should frame that focus relative to what will ultimately be the

duration of their careers.

Everyone needs a valid skill, style or

knowledge of a tool to get their first

job. We all have to start somewhere.

But as time goes by, our interests

change with our lives and many yearn

to explore new styles as they become

popular. Often the industry also

changes in uncontrollable ways,

forcing us to learn new skills or tools

outside of our comfort zones to stay

relevant. Over a 20+ year career, this

means that many specialists will

choose to grow or be forced to upgrade

or change skills, tools and styles to

become a multi-talented generalist.

So you can have a fun and amazing

career as a specialist, generalist or

both if you’re in it for the long game.

How do you decide whether to become a

generalist a specialist, or somewhere between

the two?

Fern Wicks, Southampton, UK

QUESTION OF THE MONTH

Send your questions to [email protected]

Practical

advice from

industry experts

CHRISTIAN HEILMANN

A developer evangelist,

presenter and JavaScript

lover living and working

in Berlin, Christian is

principal program

manager for browser tools at Microsoft.

w: christianheilmann.com

t: @codepo

SHANE MIELKE

Shane is a freelance

creative director,

designer and front-end

developer. His handbook

for digital creatives,

Launch It, is available now.

w: http://www.shanemielke.com

t: @shanemielke

THIS MONTH FEATURING...

EDGE DEVTOOLS

Are Microsoft Edge’s DevTools the same

as Chrome’s since Microsoft decided to

give up trying to be relevant with its own

browser engine?

Jeremiah Lee, Stockholm, Sweden

CH: They are based on the developer

tools of the Chromium open-source

project, but they aren’t the same as

Chrome’s. Any browser based on

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developer tools on the core tools and not

all of them get contributed back.

At Edge, our focus is accessibility and

making the developer tools integrate

smoothly into a larger developer story.

We are also looking into making the

developer tools easier to use by running

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where people get stuck. It is exciting to

Shane Mielke’s book Launch It compiles 300 lessons he’s

learned as a designer, developer and creative director