Developers that constantly want to learn new things, here’s a tip!
I’ve seen this pattern of frustration and self-doubt among developers that want to learn it all, and really know very little when actually doing the work.
Learning programming can sometimes be overwhelming. We are constantly trying to solve problems, and just as we think we’ve found the solution, we jump to even bigger problems. The constant process of problem-solving causes stress, pain and self-doubt for developers.
In order to be an effective programmer, it is important to understand how knowledge works, and narrow down the learning field so that you can become really good at what you do.
If you want to become a better web developer, start your own business, teach others, or improve your development skills, I’ll be posting weekly tips and tricks on the latest web development languages.
How does knowledge work?
Have you ever noticed that when someone explains something, you feel that you understand it, but when you try to apply it, you find it difficult, almost like you know nothing. You are not alone. The reason why is because knowledge consist of two important parts — information and knowledge.
As shown in the figure, information is based on facts or things that provide awareness, while knowledge is when we apply what we have acquired such as information. Watching online videos, reading articles or talking to people provides you information and to some extent knowledge (built upon experience), but that is not true knowledge.
An example of this is learning how to drive a car. The instructor may provide you information on how to drive the car and change the gear etc, but knowledge is when you actually apply it. A combination of eye- and body-movement, knowing when to switch gear based on the environment, how to hold the steering wheel and position the car in the right lanes is knowledge which is difficult to transfer.
Knowledge is when we are able to connect information and apply it somewhere.
You can’t learn everything
Programming is a large field, there are thousands of resources and ways of learning something. It is important to narrow down what is necessary in order to have the time and energy to solve demanding problems. If you constantly learn new things, you will end up with just information, and little knowledge. I’m not saying don’t learn new things, but learn what is relevant for the problem your working on. And that itself will help you become a good developer in your field, narrow down the noise.
The best programmers I know, are the ones that are not stressed nor overwhelmed of learning new things.
Here’s an article that contradicts the whole idea of being good at one thing by stating you become more attractive in the market if you have some knowledge in multiple fields. Click here.
How to learn effectively
If you think about it, there are thousand things that happen constantly around us, but the brain doesn’t care or give any attention because much of it is just noise or not relevant. For instance, you care little of what someone does behind you on a train station, or the people you walk by.
The best way we can learn something is when we actually do it (practical work). The reason why is because we are confronted with details, and forced to understand how it works.
Here’s the trick, creating a simple app will teach you a lot more than watching a YouTube video. And the reason is because when you watch a YouTube video, the author decides what is important based on his own experience, and not yours. It means the author will teach you things that help very little, and most of it is nice-to-know information.
Information that is built on experience is far more powerful than none.
When you work in a company, they don’t pay for information, but the experience you have (knowledge). That is why its easier for those that have some sort of experience to land a job than those that don’t.
If you really want to learn something, then the trick is to put yourself out there first by doing it (learning by doing), and then afterwards you watch a YouTube video or even read an article built-upon on what you already know.
This way you’ll gradually find what is relevant to learn, instead of consuming things that is not important.
Focus on what is important
We have a way of thinking that we are not adequate enough, and we either push ourselves to hard or punish for not knowing it. I guess that is a part of being human, and the whole survival thing. Let’s face it, we’ll never be able to know everything, or fully adapt the field we work with. The important takeaway here is that if you take away all the things you should learn and only focus on what is essential you’ll craft some powerful knowledge, and become an valuable player in the market.
There is nothing wrong with knowing one thing, and know it very well. But knowing a bit of everything is not going to make you a better developer. That is information, and not knowledge.
You are free to learn whatever you want. But if you want to strive in life, and become one of the few in your field, you have to do some digging. It requires time, discipline and dedication, but most importantly the ability to put all nice-to-know things on not-so-important agenda.
Here’s the thing, if you become good at one programming language, for instance C++, then you can easily adapt others, or understand how the nature works. We always learn something about other things with the things we work with. That is the whole thing about knowledge, the ability to apply it in other fields with what you already have experience with.
Conclusion
Information is a good thing, but to some extent. It may provide a sense of feeling that you know something when you really don’t. Information itself is worth little, but the knowledge of knowing how to do things combined with information is whats important, and what you’ll make a living from in the end. To achieve knowledge, you need to put yourself out there. And of course, that requires time and discipline, which of course makes it easier to watch a YouTube video. But in the long-term, you’ll be surprised of how much more you learn when you actually need it from creating small apps.
With that being said, you should focus on one thing, and do it very well. It means there are lots of things you need to reevaluate if it is truly worth your time and energy, or just a waste of time.
Remember, information provides awareness while knowledge is the ability to solve problems and take important decisions.
Here are few articles I’ve written about the web along with personal programming tips and tricks.
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