The first joke about Apple's new programming language (it has appeared on the web not later than 24 hrs after it was published)?
Looking for a Swift programmer. 5 years of professional Swift programming experience required.
5 years. If it's just 3, you're surely not good enough ;P
Same applies for products:
Cassandra? Looks nice, but when was its first release? 2008? Nooo, it's not mature enough. Please, keep in mind that Oracle Database was initially released in 1978 ...
Come back in 2025 then. Or more preferrably - 2035.
Some IT people are still back in the past era. They think this way, but in the same time:
- they use mobile apps that were published literally weeks ago
- they would like the latest gadgets with the most fancy widgets
- obiously they play only the most recent video games
Let's face the truth - maturity & stability is not measured with years anymore. What really matters is:
- real-life cases of usage
- proven testimonials
- user count (or any other measure of capacity that makes sense for this particular case)
- overall performance & maintainability proven in local conditions (preferrably prototyped)
Few years ago you could here all the same mantra again & again:
We prefer Microsoft DB2 Oracle Server, because it's so stable we don't have to patch it anymore. And patching is always such a pain...
It just works, it has always worked - it didn't change much for last 10 years, so we're not afraid of something surprising us. Besides, everyone uses MDB2OS, so it has to be the top notch.
Nowadays:
- pretty much everyone does their business at least partially on-line - so keeping your software up-to-date helps a lot with security
- software development cycle is so much shorter (& faster) - delivering something meaningful may be a matter of days, not years.
- some technologies grow old & redundant even before they reach version 1.0. Just check what's happening with in-memory high-volume processing engines (like Spark or Impala). It still doesn't mean they should not be used - you should utilize everything that's useful, stable & perspective enough
If everyone can code his stuff down so fast, it's either the idea or the technology that has to make a difference. And speaking about business critical systems: for people who claim that no respectful company will use a piece of software that wasn't developed in a formal CMMI-LevelX process by a global-scale vendor, I have just one answer: Linux.
Just one final remark - my point isn't that you have to go for every new shiny piece of software that is published: it's always about the actual value this thing can bring to you & your organization. Introducing new technology just for the sake of it being new doesn't seem like a step in a proper direction.
