If your fundamentals are sound, you should not have to fear. That said, you might want to pick up some non-Algol descended languages such as Lisp or Prolog, just to expose yourself to different programming paradigms. :)
Ask HN: How do you keep up with changing technologies?
21–30 of 38 posts
Re: Ask HN: How do you keep up with changing technologies?
#22Not sure how realistic it is, but today’s Dilbert is relevant and somewhat amusing: http://dilbert.com/fast/2009-11-16/
Re: Ask HN: How do you keep up with changing technologies?
#23A long time ago, I used to jump on every bandwagon that seemed interesting. That lead to lots of wasted time and effort with technological dead-ends. So I over-reacted and only bothered with technology that had been around a minimum of 2 years (or if a "for dummies" book on the subject came out). Some of our shipping products are based on VB6, while some of the others are .NET 3.5. Generally, if some new technology a…
Thanks for the link, I've added it to my bookmarks for stuff I wanted to review in the coming weeks and will definitely be checking it out. I also see what you mean about being too quick to jump onto the bandwagon. I realize it's in debate right now, but there IS talk that Linq to SQL will be replaced by Linq to Entities. So with that (and the comments people are posting about learning the meat and not the seasoning)…
The problem here is that you're on a treadmill where someone else sets the pace.
Re: Ask HN: How do you keep up with changing technologies?
#24I was late to the game [...] What game? Newer technology isn't always better. It's just... newer. What really makes you think you have to keep up with the latest technology? Are you just trying to keep up with the other code monkeys, or do you really want to learn something? [H]ow do you force yourself to step outside your comfort zone of doing things the way you know how and trying something new? If "step[ping] outs…
Newer technology isn't always better.
This is a great point that one would think obvious enough, except that there's usually some pretty powerful vested interests that I suspect like to try hard to obscure it in order to keep users and devs on the constant upgrade treadmill, in turn padding their bottom line.
Case in point: My favourite Linux distro Debian, knows newer isn't always better very well. They are sometimes criticised for their stable release being "behind the times", but if you want the cutting edge you can pretty easily run the Debian Testing or Unstable releases (even Unstable is pretty stable most of the time). What people don't get or perhaps don't want to accept is that Debian stable values stability over all else, it's meant for server applications and the fact that it's a bit "behind the times" makes it better for this role than it would be otherwise.
Re: Ask HN: How do you keep up with changing technologies?
#25Don't follow every new trend. However, if you are stuck in .NET world, it might really pay off to look at other worlds for inspiration now and then.
Reading Hacker News now and then should give you enough ideas? Every now and then you could read a book or do some exercises, or best create a small project in another technology stack.
I think reading SICP and learning a bit of LISP might be a good start - just because it introduces a lot of concepts that might be unheard of by enterprise programmers.
If I was on .NET I would probably be looking at F# right now.
Re: Ask HN: How do you keep up with changing technologies?
#26Side projects! I always try to incorporate promising new platforms/technologies into new side projects both as a way to learn and as a way to test the technology.
You won't use everything you play with, but over time, your toolset and skill will grow and you'll be able to deliver better and more unique solutions that will get you noticed. Capitalize on that by doing a brown bag or by helping other teams when they follow the scent of success. Rinse/Repeat. In 7-8 years, everyone will know that you're indispensable.
Re: Ask HN: How do you keep up with changing technologies?
#27I can empathise with you though, as I started programming later than it seems most in this line of work do. I too sometimes think, "damn I would be much further along now if I had gotten into this stuff earlier." But then I guess I wouldn't be the person I am in other ways and mostly, I don't mind who I am.
I'm still learning new things on regular basis
If that's the case, then I'd say you're OK at the moment. Keep doing that. :)
Re: Ask HN: How do you keep up with changing technologies?
#28I think the big trick is to know when not to chase what's new and hot, but simply to concentrate on solving problems, and solving them well. If you use the right tool for the job behind the scenes nobody cares what you built it in if you just expose the front end and it works well.
Technology is becoming more and more like the fashion industry, "What, you're still using (insert name of language here), that's so 2003...".
If you try to chase the ever changing bleeding edge you'll end up knowing lots of tech but only shallow, pick a blade, learn it until you know it inside out, then look further.
Though it won't hurt you to at least know what's going on out there there is absolutely no way a single person can actually keep up and stay current with all that's out there.
Re: Ask HN: How do you keep up with changing technologies?
#29Eventually, you'll come to realize that not only are you late to the game, but you're also early to the game, and even on time, depending upon the technology.
When I started in the web hosting business, Linux had just crossed the 1.0 milestone, and the CGI spec was the sample code (in C and Perl) from NCSA, and Apache had just been formed. In that time, I've seen Perl wax and wane, MetaHTML stillborn (back sometime in the 90s I was asked to pick between MetaHTML and something called PHP; I picked MetaHTML. You can't always pick winners), PHP, Python and Ruby on the rise.
Personally, I tend to avoid the hype (I'm still using code I wrote a decade ago on my personal website) and go for what interests me, with the occasional shove in a particular direction when my boss requires it.
I've been a (paid) programmer since 1990 and have seen quite a few waves of technology come and go, and I'm still employed. I've even heard that Cobol programmers still exist.
Re: Ask HN: How do you keep up with changing technologies?
#30We invent it.
Or so I'd love to do; So should you!