As far as software development is concerned, all you really need to know is C/C++, a little assembly to get by in gdb, and -nix system calls. Pick an abstraction layer on top of that if you feel it helps you, but don't feel like you need to know about other languages out there, because new ones are being generated faster than you can learn about them.
Yes, I'm being facetious, because that purist approach is impractical in the job market. When I left college C/C++ was what I had done the majority of my development in. I wrote some C yesterday. But nearly all of the development I have done since then has been in a higher-level language like Java, C#, Perl, PHP, Python, or Ruby, all of which I had to pick up and learn for some job somewhere outside of work. And the answer is that learning these things did help me, as I had practical experience with these languages. It's just way worse for front-end these days.
The thing is that the "cool job" job market for front-end guys seems to want people that know the new hotness, and the hotness changes a lot. If you want a job at Facebook or Google etc, it is easy: learn the framework they use in house (React/Angular/etc.) But what if you aren't capable of running the Facebook/Google interview gauntlet, as many are?
You just want a job using the skills you have and are willing to learn. You know JS/HTML/CSS/jQuery. You know how the underlying core concepts work. However, that job posting says you need AngularJS or React or Vue or whatever experience, and your last job was all Knockout.js since the company was older. When you go for the interview, they will take the person with proven experience in the trendier framework. So your job market is fragmented, and if you want mobility between companies -- a big deal when working with startups that might be uncertain -- you have to keep up on all of them to some degree.
I went to a "front end" meetup with some friends that work in typical dev shops not too long ago, and the amount of arguing over frameworks and JS tooling was terrible. Lots of spouting off the opinions of your favorite opinionated framework and a good amount of contempt for the wrong team. I shared a similar opinion as you -- none of them will last and all is old is new again -- and I was practically ignored as an old man unless I was talking about websec concepts.
Yes, I'm being facetious, because that purist approach is impractical in the job market. When I left college C/C++ was what I had done the majority of my development in. I wrote some C yesterday. But nearly all of the development I have done since then has been in a higher-level language like Java, C#, Perl, PHP, Python, or Ruby, all of which I had to pick up and learn for some job somewhere outside of work. And the answer is that learning these things did help me, as I had practical experience with these languages. It's just way worse for front-end these days.
The thing is that the "cool job" job market for front-end guys seems to want people that know the new hotness, and the hotness changes a lot. If you want a job at Facebook or Google etc, it is easy: learn the framework they use in house (React/Angular/etc.) But what if you aren't capable of running the Facebook/Google interview gauntlet, as many are?
You just want a job using the skills you have and are willing to learn. You know JS/HTML/CSS/jQuery. You know how the underlying core concepts work. However, that job posting says you need AngularJS or React or Vue or whatever experience, and your last job was all Knockout.js since the company was older. When you go for the interview, they will take the person with proven experience in the trendier framework. So your job market is fragmented, and if you want mobility between companies -- a big deal when working with startups that might be uncertain -- you have to keep up on all of them to some degree.
I went to a "front end" meetup with some friends that work in typical dev shops not too long ago, and the amount of arguing over frameworks and JS tooling was terrible. Lots of spouting off the opinions of your favorite opinionated framework and a good amount of contempt for the wrong team. I shared a similar opinion as you -- none of them will last and all is old is new again -- and I was practically ignored as an old man unless I was talking about websec concepts.