01-09-2003, 11:05 AM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,177
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How to Learn the 10 Technologies that Will Help You Stay Employed
http://www.devx.com/devx/editorial/10432
One of my favorite developer sites is DevX.com. A recent editorial by A. Russel Jones caught my interest and I'd like to share it with you! The article touches on the eternal subject of learning. By first having brought up 10 key technologies to stay on top of, Russel addresses how to learn them. The 10 technologies identified by Russel are:
#1: XML
#2: Web Services
#3: Object-Oriented Programming
#4: Java, C++, C#, and VB.NET
#5: JavaScript
#6: Regular Expressions
#7: Design Patterns
#8: Flash MX
#9: Linux/Windows
#10: SQL
Yes, I agree. We would like to see some sort of "mobile" reference to this list but as we move forward I am convinced "mobile" will become an integral part of all key technologies and vice versa. Russel writes: "When we told our readers what technologies they needed to learn, they told us: easier said than done. While that's true, there is an approach to learning that can make it easier. With the right attitude and some essential resources, you'll be on your way slowly but surely."
As professionals in the fast IT industry we have to constantly rethink, relearn and redo. How do you do it?
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01-09-2003, 11:26 AM
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Thinker
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 396
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The trick to constantly being up to date on current technology is to be interested in it. Then it doesn't seem like work.
I'm OK on 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10 but don't mention 6 (Regular Expressions). Just started using them yesterday and it's driving me mad! :x
UPDATE: Off-topic but I'm sure all programmers will appreciate this... Just spend two days trying to get my head round Regular Expressions in ASP.NET and was having a real problem with quotes and whitespace. Assumed it was my lack of understanding of Regular Expressions, but it turns out my text had been HTML Encoded and all my quotes were now "..... :evil: :cry: two days..... OK - we've all done it before. Rant over.
:roll: Actually, accidentally back on topic again, I suppose this shows how we do it. We will spend two days learning to do something in a new improved way rather than two minutes doing it the "old" way.
Fred
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01-09-2003, 02:08 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 14
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The REAL trick is to travel to work by train.
If you have a train journey time of at least 30 mins each way then you can be very productive. Download your white papers/literature before you leave and read the stuff on the way.
Also a good tip is to cut big heavy books along the spine, and just take the 100 pages you are currently need. That way they don't take up so much weight... and they can be real heavy!
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01-09-2003, 02:21 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 14
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I got my degree 2 years ago and without a proper job since then (it's not an easy task right now) I'm getting very very out of touch... it's getting to a point where I'm feeling like I need to redo the 3 years...
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01-09-2003, 02:36 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,177
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Iain
I got my degree 2 years ago and without a proper job since then (it's not an easy task right now) I'm getting very very out of touch... it's getting to a point where I'm feeling like I need to redo the 3 years...
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Don't worry. There is not a single degree out there that automatically has you on top of technology advancements. Getting the degree might have helped you learning how to learn, and hopefully provided you with programming basics and if your'e lucky: mathematics. Above that, in my opinion, a degree in computer science is not much more than a piece of paper.
I constantly have to redo the last 3 years. It's been that way since I started back in the 1980s! 8)
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01-09-2003, 03:37 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 126
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Interesting editorial. Although I might take issue with order, SQL seems like it should be higher on the list - when we bring a junior developer in at my company, that's one of the first places we start to see improvements ... you can do a lot of tricky stuff once you learn the ins and outs ... 
I also kinda wish FlashMX wasn't on that list, because until broadband is really ubiquitous, flash has issues. Ever tried to hit a heavy flash site at 56k? (Although with DSL, it works great  )
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01-09-2003, 03:53 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 88
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Quote:
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The REAL trick is to travel to work by train.
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I agree 100%! The train certainly beats driving. But it's pretty brave to be chopping up your books! I wish all books came in a standard ebook format.
A lot of the opportunity to work on new stuff also depends on the company you work for. I'm fortunate that I work for a company that likes to move forward and use new technologies. I've seen many companies just paralyzed with fear of upgrades. It's hard to keep up to date with companies like that unless you spend hours away from work updating your skills.
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01-09-2003, 04:06 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,177
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My tricks are:
1. have fun
2. trial and error
3. read books really fast
4. read sample code really slow
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01-09-2003, 04:12 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 115
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And I'd like to add:
5. Pick a pet side project and write Code!
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01-09-2003, 04:22 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,177
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by kennyg
5. Pick a pet side project and write Code!
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That is actually included in my number 1 and 2! :lol:
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