Guys, how did you decide your area of specialisation ? Like working with web apps , or network security or Machine Learning and AI , sys admin etc . I find all of them interesting but never end up knowing them in depth.

Do a bit of everything, then find out which you enjoy the most

@joetj I wish it was that simple. Did just the thing, still confused 😓

I tried about all corners and I found that I like a few areas the most. In my case they are back-end development (php, node), cyber security (including white hat hacking) and Linux server management. Those are the fields I enjoy most doing 😃

Do something like bubble sorting. It takes time, but you will find what you love. Try everything, choose the ones you like the most, repeat. If you can't limit the choices, you are basically done.

@coookie Same here...

Don't panic. If you don't know, certain technologies will be decided for you and you can from that knowledge decide if you want to stick with them. It helps to have a basic understanding of the domain you want to work with (web, desktop application, mobile, database, games, etc) as that may reduce the set of applicable technologies. Yet I happened to become a web developer more as an accident than a a conscious choice. I don't need to control everything in my career.

It helps to have a vision, yet never forget that in our business technology changes rapidly and being too specialized can also not be helpful.

I once delved into vagrant and puppet. Now I only use docker.

In my current company I was hired as a PHP developer and we are switching to nodejs / TypeScript. I take that as an opportunity to learn something new while still being paid for it. In other circumstances, e.g. if we would have switched to perl, I would have left the company. It depends. Just don't panic.

I honestly found the things I'm good at, and then searched for jobs with those things in mind. I was met with an array of different applications of those things, then went with the most interesting/friday bacon.

Isn't complete specialisation for when you're old and too experienced? I'd keep you're options open, there's no rush.

>insert streams and rivers and other analogies here<

@joetj Very valid point. I was working in a company that didn't value test driven development. Hence I looked for one that did because I wanted to get there.

Good advise is to not worry too much.Its good have so much interest in many things.It shows you have chosen the right profession.I went where the jobs were for years and fell into workflows and system integration. Now I use all my experience over all those areas.