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Comment by jedberg | Hacker News Reader

> when it would take days or a couple weeks to learn XYZ framework/library/whatever to the level of competence that is required for the position.

Here is their thought process:

If you believe that is the case, then why not spend a couple weeks learning XYZ, so that the next time you need XYZ you can say you know it?

Either it's not actually that simple, which means that it would take a long time for you to ramp up, or it is that simple, and you lack initiative.

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I think you're right that it's not that simple. The really valuable knowledge is not the type you get from introductory tutorials, but the type you get from working on production systems.

GitLab concluded that they didn't have the capacity to train developers unfamiliar with their tech: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/merge_requests/...

GitLab is talking about (not) training python people to do ruby work, which indeed needs months of work.

OP is talking about not knowing framework xyz, I'm assuming like knowing JavaScript but not knowing Vue or knowing Python but not knowing Django or Pyramid.

You can be productive with a framework in days / weeks if you have solid knowledge of the programming language.

A very experienced programmer can learn a new framework in 2 weeks and start being productive - even if not not as productive as he/she will become in 1 year. But a junior dev won't become an experienced dev with 2 weeks of study, the productivity will still be that of a junior. Study helps a lot, but it can't replace real world experience.

> If you believe that is the case, then why not spend a couple weeks learning XYZ, so that the next time you need XYZ you can say you know it?

Because there are many things to learn and it doesn't make sense to learn everything just to get to the first interview at any company.

As a developer it makes sense to do one or two small projects with any framework just to see how it is, but that doesn't count as knowing the framework.

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