Becoming a Better Programmer

Chapter 24. Live to Love to Learn

Learning is like rowing upstream: not to advance is to drop back.

Chinese proverb

Programming is an exciting and dynamic field to work in; there is always something new to learn. Programmers are rarely forced to repeat the same task for years, only discovering new ways to develop RSI and failing eyesight. We continually face the unknown: new problems, new situations, new teams, new technologies, or a new combination of them all.

We are continually challenged to learn, to increase our skills and our capabilities. If you feel like you’re stagnating in your career, one of the most practical steps you can take to get out of the rut is to make a conscious effort to learn something new.

Key

Be in a state of continual learning. Always look to learn something new.

Some people are naturally better at learning; they excel at absorbing new information and can “get up to speed” rapidly. That’s natural. But it is something we can all improve at, if we try. You need to take charge of your learning.

If you want to improve as a programmer, you need to be a skilled and seasoned learner. And you need to learn to enjoy it.

Key

Learn to enjoy learning.

What to Learn?

There’s a whole world of things you could attempt to pick up. So what should you look at? American political poet Donald Rumsfeld summed up this conundrum in a particularly apt way when he made an infamous White House press conference:

As we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know ...