"Carpenters argue about the best saws/drills, artists argue about the best brushes/paints, musicians argue about the best instrument maker."
Is that actually true? I can't think of a single example of such an argument. I have heard recommendations, and heard various trendy tools being promoted (at least for music), but never an argument.
I think it has to do with transferability of skill. In music, carpentry, and painting, skill readily transfers to different tools even if it causes annoyance or a stylistic change in the result.
The stakes are much higher for web development; at least that's the perception. Skills probably transfer better than people think, but it's scary to have 10 years of experience and a high billing rate and then go back to "hello world".
It's much more comfortable to try to promote what you already know so that you don't have to do that. And it also avoids wasting time on a new framework that seems promising but never gets critical mass.
I've never had a problem moving to another language, I'll never understand why people pigeonhole themselves into categories like "rails dev" or "java dev".
The fundamentals are transferable, I don't even mention specific technologies or stacks these days if I don't have to.
Well, two things. Lots of people are good on the mechanics of a particular stack and weak on the fundamentals, making the description accurate.
And lots of people hire based on the assumption that expertise in a particular stack is the most important thing (perhaps in part as a result of the preceding point).
"When art critics get together they talk about Form and Structure and Meaning. When artists get together they talk about where you can buy cheap turpentine."
-- Pablo Picasso
Is that actually true? I can't think of a single example of such an argument. I have heard recommendations, and heard various trendy tools being promoted (at least for music), but never an argument.
I think it has to do with transferability of skill. In music, carpentry, and painting, skill readily transfers to different tools even if it causes annoyance or a stylistic change in the result.
The stakes are much higher for web development; at least that's the perception. Skills probably transfer better than people think, but it's scary to have 10 years of experience and a high billing rate and then go back to "hello world".
It's much more comfortable to try to promote what you already know so that you don't have to do that. And it also avoids wasting time on a new framework that seems promising but never gets critical mass.