Similar thoughts. I have worked with some folks who basically just do 'java' all day. It's a web app, but there's a team who gets to pretty much do just 'java' - little to no web stuff, little SQL (that's another team), and... There have been times over the years when I've been envious of that type of situation, but then I think I'd hate it. But I sort of hate the current state working across all things web.

You forgot 'SQL' (or broad 'data management and access'), as well as security and performance stuff in your list above.

I don't want to be a 'stick in the mud' but.. I also resist some of the newer/shinier things, precisely because they don't always stick around (and I've been burned). But also, I don't really have time/bandwidth to be an expert. Doing server mgt, security, etc half-assed, by just following a couple of readmes... that can lead to lots of trouble.

For me code complete helped me write decent code around these things. No framework will write your business logic. As an asidev there's a really stand out section called Table Driven Methods, he shows how to go from nested if hell to so simple it's mind boggling. Also on the way he detours into the OO approach which doesn't help simplify things at all. I've never seen anything like this advice anywhere else. Also for beginners just explaining how to name functions and variables is great. In fact I worked with a so called senior dev who was naming things terribly.