Regarding the topic of career longevity as a software engineer:
Focus on combining your software engineering skills with delivering value in a specific, core competency.
That is to say:
Good software engineers tend to focus on being good at programming, and all of the details that venture entails (e.g., mastery of specific languages, knowledge of specific ways of operating in a given framework, IDE, or tool, etc.).
Better software engineers are capable of all of the preceding, plus the ability to apply a deeper level of problem-solving ability that has been laser-focused by their experience in the art.
Superlative software engineers are capable of all of the preceding, plus the ability to leverage those skills to deliver value as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) in a specific domain.
I believe that you have to be more than just a programmer if you want to maximize your career's longevity, and its associated compensation package.
Focus on combining your software engineering skills with delivering value in a specific, core competency.
That is to say:
Good software engineers tend to focus on being good at programming, and all of the details that venture entails (e.g., mastery of specific languages, knowledge of specific ways of operating in a given framework, IDE, or tool, etc.).
Better software engineers are capable of all of the preceding, plus the ability to apply a deeper level of problem-solving ability that has been laser-focused by their experience in the art.
Superlative software engineers are capable of all of the preceding, plus the ability to leverage those skills to deliver value as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) in a specific domain.
I believe that you have to be more than just a programmer if you want to maximize your career's longevity, and its associated compensation package.