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Spread too thin?

Started by Mantear Aug 22, 2005 at 6:10 PM 0 replies 400+ views

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Aug 22, 2005 at 6:10 PM

Greetings everyone, I'm looking for a little guidance and am hoping this is the right place. I went through college and got a BS in EE. I always had an interest in Comp Sci as well, so I enjoyed the courses in logic, assembly, C/C++/Java and the like, but it was all pretty intro level stuff. I got my job 2.5 years ago, and since then have learned and used an extremely wide variety of skills. To date I have used the follow: Analog Devices SHARC DSPs on 2 pojects - Both C programming and ASM drivers/optimizations. TI 55xx and 65xx series DSPs, with and without the built in real time OS, C and C++, using CodeComposer. Xilinx and Altera FPGAs - Quartus II, Xilinx ISE, ModelSim, Synplify. I have written System and Unit Requirement/Design/Test documents, as well as implemented and tested the units/systems. I've worked with custom hardware, COTS hardware, soldered parts together on a breadboard to throw together analog circuits. I've single-handedly made work-arounds of nasty compiler bugs, wrote and tested EMIFA/B linkes between DSPs and FPGAs, got multiple 800Mbps serial linkes between FPGAs over 2m cables to be syncronized. I've worked with people from Boeing, Lockheed, Rockwell, General Dynamics, various government agencies, etc. I'm a 25 year old computer hobbyest who grew up on Nintendo and now would like to dabble in OpenGL. My question is this: am I spreading myself too thin? It's fun being a jack-of-all-trades. It makes me very flexible at my company (read: job security and good raises). However, I don't feel like I'm becoming an expert in anything. Therefore, I tend to question my own judgement calls and defer to others, unless I know 100% that I'm right. I love getting into everything I've been able to get into. But it's frustrating at times when I feel like I'll never learn everything I need to learn to become really good at what I'm doing, because what I'm doing is changing all the time. For all you experienced proffesionals out there, or anyone else who cares to say their 2 cents, do you have any suggestions for me? So many times I'm put in a position where I feel like I should be sure of myself, where I am the expert on the given topic, but I just don't feel like I'm the one who should be calling the shots. Is this because I'm too diverse?

oliii

270

oliii

Aug 22, 2005 at 7:35 PM

For the sake of argument, consider this. Nobody gets a degree in say, PS2 programming. But, to be able to do VU code, shaders, on such difficult hardware, being proefficient at what you are basically doing is an immense help.

So basically, everybody become expert through experience. I've know some very good PS2 programmers who just learned their trade from the gournd up, but obviously, they had some experience in low level programming, like in motorola 68000 programming (Amiga and Atari) and x86 ASM.

These guys now are extremely valued and basically experts, and can now move on to PS3 programming and multicore programming with relative confidence. What they might originally lack will still come through with experience and a build up of skills.

In broad terms, the goal of engineering education is to provide you with tools to tackle a wide range of problems in a specific field. Then, it is your choice to specialise or not, in a particular area. If you are flexible enough, becoming an expert will come through naturally. What you have learned, all the teaching and the various skills will get you there. You just have to make it happen and have the confidence and enthusiasm to do it. Either by doing a PhD :), or securing a job in a field of interest.

I have the same problem as you. I don't consider myself expert on anything particular, but I'm fine with that. However, if you want are feeling unconfortable about your situation, I'd suggest you decide on what you *really* want to do, and work at it 110%. You wanna be a GFX shader expert? So, what's keeping you? As long as what you try to do is still in your field, it should be no problem.

Through experience and learning processes, you'll eventually get a lot more comfortable around a subject. If you don't know the answer of a problem, just say you don't, but then learn about it later on.

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