Hey guys I've a question that's been on my mind for a little bit. I recently got my first full time dev job as a junior developer. Overall I'm really happy with the opportunity to work in the industry, but in the company we're using old technology ext js and PL/SQL. I'm wondering will this make things harder when looking for other jobs in the future that use more modern frameworks, or is it that the actual industry experience is more important?

Industry experience is important, you'll be learning skills and getting experience in software development, team work, project management etc. So any job is useful in that respect. However you wouldn't want to stay too long, I've seen people get stuck in a rut after only meaning to stay for a short time in a role, then a few years later finding their technical skills are less relevant and a barrier to finding a new job.

So learn all you can, but keep an eye on the job market, I would think about applying for other roles after about 6 months.

I'd say don't get attached to a particular piece of software/technology/whatever. Things change. IMO proper skills are not about being good at a particular library/framework/tech stack, but about being good at learning new things and adapting to change.

@kamen if only recruiters understood this

@TeachMeCode They will... one day...

One can dream.

It’s still programming isn’t it? Programming paradigms will always be the same whatever technology you use. Whatever you’re working with, try to understand it as much as possible and make the best of it by writing the cleanest code possible (easier said than done, I know). This is a good habit that will help you tackle other languages, frameworks, technologies or what have you with much more ease. I’m still quite a noob myself. I have yet to live by the advice I’m giving to you 🙄

Other than tech stack, you should also consider the domain. It is more comparable or even more difficult to pick up than raw tech stack. Examples: how payment industry do things, how HR benefits usually structured, etc. This will assist you when moving in the same industry with shinier stack.

No, it won't make things harder. Just do some learning on the side of commonly-used things today (React, Angular, etc).

Tangentially, ExtJS isn't "old" technology. It's used by a lot of major companies for a lot of major projects. It's just not the hip, "in" technology of the day. But there was a time when ExtJS was so clearly beyond everything else out there that it wasn't even close. That's no longer the case, though it's still fantastic, but it's never gotten the developer mindshare that its capabilities would indicate it probably should (almost certainly due to its astronomical cost, assuring that pretty much only large corporations are going to use it).

But, all of that aside, you're learning programming and you're learning concepts that translate to any other technology or stack you may have to use in the future. Don't worry about it. Hell, you might even find a few doors open to you BECAUSE you have that specific experience. It's not going to hurt you in any case.

Tons of companies use older stuff. So many places can't constantly jump to the next new thing because of the pace things change at and sometimes supposedly for security reasons. The work experience and being in actual dev environment is still good for you. A lot of the skills are transferable.

I worked at a place that was still using Glassfish 2 and JSP in the beginning of 2020. It did not hurt my career