Science Fiction and it's Subgenres

Categorizing and classifying works of fiction into groups and genres always seemed a futile endeavour to me. Alongside almost all attempts by mankind insane desire to make everything fit into their own little groups, it often fails to realise the impossibility of such a task. The infinite shades and one offs and similar-but-not-quites mean that either the system is too general and as such provides no insight whatsoever or is too specific and therefore the system itself becomes meaningless. Of course, that's what makes fiction interesting, the little subtleties and details that change, that work into creating a deep and compelling narrative, conveying ideas and ideals or perhaps warnings or even wistful thinking. Be that as it may, let's talk about Science Fiction and it's sub genres.

One big line often drawn between Science Fiction stories is how "hard" or "soft" the science elements of the story are. Of course, this is no dividing but rather a huge gradient. Hard SciFi means staying close to reality, coming up with plausible, if not possible, solutions to scientific questions that are not yet answered. Soft SciFi, on the other hand, simply waves away any responsibilities of science and is often akin to magic more than anything.
Some examples of Hard SciFi include the Foundation series by Asimov and A Fall of Moondust by Arthur C. Clarke. On the other side of the spectrum are works like Star Wars which are actually very close to fantasy.

Other sub genres of Science Fiction include Apocalyptic, Cyberpunk, Space Opera, Space Western, Steampunk and many others.
All of these have their own storytelling elements and aesthetic. Apocalyptic stories talk about the end of the world, and tend to have a drab and dirty visual style.
Space Western is, as the name suggests, reminiscent of early days in America, tough, rough and rapid expansionism.
Steampunk has little specificity in regards to the narrative but the visual is perhaps the most distinctive; many moving parts and elaborate machinery.

Of course, this is minute snippet of the vast library of genres within the genre of Science Fiction, never mind the fact that most works cannot fit into just one or sometimes even any of these categories.

A few examples of such sub genres:

Apocalyptic
Fallout 3
War of the Worlds
System Shock 2
Planet of the Apes
Mad Max
The Matrix

Cyberpunk
Blade Runner
Deus Ex

Space Opera
Mass Effect

Space Western
Star Trek