I totally agree, Markku - There is a lot of ancillary knowledge that goes along with just installing a theme/plugins these days, and every time a new update comes out I sigh a little.. still trying to work out how feasible it is to keep sites up to date vs. charging the customer and hope new automatic updates for really old versions don't break sites. Between Erickson's Display Post shortcode and Condon's Advanced Custom Fields plugins, I can create anything within WordPress, but I'm still learning js and php as I go.

I also wish there was better integration between WordPress and Bootstrap, since that's my go-to for responsiveness. Have a couple of default themes I use now, but it can be a real pain. So I guess even I have some 'dread'... and I think in the future it will split, and the people who only develop in WordPress won't mind learning WP-specific things as much, because that's their jam... But the great thing about WordPress is that it is evolving. Part of being a web developer is keeping up with changes in the industry, including WordPress.

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Mark K. - I get it. I think I was projecting into a far-off future, rather than the now, but I do agree more and more clients will expect WordPress for their web builds, as it has become a web standard now, and it does give them the freedom to change developers if the developer quits trading, or they move. The problem is with more and more WordPress developers, the prices get pushed further and further down, and it can be hard to compete. But it's not WP's fault there is no competition. Technically for web cms, there has been plenty of competition, but the reason WP has become so popular is because it's open source, free, and overall, a pretty easy CMS to learn (compared to having to build/use a bespoke CMS). In the old days, clients couldn't just go in and edit text, they are forced to go to their developer and have them fix it - possibly another reason why clients want it now.

:O)