I ask myself this question quite often. What it takes to become a better developer? Not a ninja, guru, master or whatever, but just a better developer. I’m talking about how to improve and learn more every day.
So, it’s about the diversity of knowledge you have, it’s about staying up-to-date with latest technologies and standards? Or maybe just sticking at what you’re doing best and keep practicing makes you call yourself a good developer.
Disclaimer. I know everybody has an opinion on how to become a better developer or designer. This article contains some of my personal thoughts, things that worked for me and I hope you’ll find them useful as well.
Stay up-to-date
Couple of months ago, Louis Lazaris wrote a good article on staying up-to-date with latest development and tech news. There are some good resources there, you may want to check if you missed something to subscribe to. ;)
Also, I’m sure this comprehensive resources list made by Elijah Manor will definitely help you add more bookmarks.
Get motivated
The best way to learn is to teach.
A friend asked me a while ago what motivates me to write articles here. My reply was simple: because I enjoy it. I don’t write on rocket science here, but I do like to learn stuff by teaching it and that’s a pretty darn good motivation for me.
Be part of the community
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Are you a designer? You must be on Dribbble. It’s amazing what people can share there and it’s a great place to learn from the best.
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Are you a developer? Then you must try GitHub, there are so many great projects you can fork and contribute to.
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Need answers to your development questions? Stack Overflow is the place where all your questions get answered. Go further and answer to questions people ask, it’s a great way to learn stuff.
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Are you even a human being? Then Twitter is the place where you can interact with all your favorite devs.
Google is your friend
Seriously, whenever you need a friend who can give you a good advice, Google will not disappoint you. Ask him first. I receive a lot of emails with all sorts of questions and unfortunately, I don’t know all the answers but Google does. :)
Learn how, when and why.
Beginners know how. Professionals know when. Masters know why.
The above is not really a learning quote, but it inspired me a lot and maybe you’ll find it interesting too. It often pops up in my mind when trying to learn something new.
Read, read and… read
Whether is The Art of War by Sun Tzu or a CSS/JavaScript/PHP book, it’s important to keep on reading. It’s no secret that you cannot read a book without learning something.
Less is More
Now, I’m curious about whether this principle applies here too. Do you have to learn about more technologies/programming languages or just try to focus on what you’re doing best and try to improve more and more?!
Although knowing bits from different languages/technologies is always a plus, it’s important to have an area where you’re very good at it. That’s why, besides trying to go deep into other stuff, remember to keep practicing and improve what you’re doing best.
Use the force
When everything fails, use the force!
Conclusion
The reason I wrote all of these is because lately I find myself a bit overwhelmed on the amount of the new stuff which is found in the wild every day. I’m amazed by the tutorials I found about on Twitter and I feel like I’m quite obsolete sometimes :)
Also, while I try to learn something new every day, I have a strange feeling like I’m not doing enough, I’m not dedicating enough time for improving my skills. Do you feel the same, or am I the only one crazy here? :)
So, what to you do to stay fit?