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Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?

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Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?

#51

Post by etrautmann »

Trasmatta wrote: post #20

I'm pretty intensely depressed, so I think I'd like to learn how to be a little less of that. I've tried so many things, but I guess there's always more. Thinking about getting a personal trainer, because I try to stay active, but have no idea how to actually work out. Seems like a good skill to learn, and should help somewhat with the crushing weight my brain seems to be in constantly.

Working out does SO MUCH to help with depression. There’s a lot of literature to support this, and plenty of anecdata as well. Good luck, you can do it!

Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?

#52

Post by kukkeliskuu »

imron wrote: post #46
pan69 wrote: post #28

I want to quit my cosy, well paying, job and start building the products I have been wanting to build for quite some years now. I have been starting to use AI about 12 months ago and, as an experienced engineer of 30+ years professionally, I am blown away by how productive it makes me. What I used to be able to do in a week now takes me a day, what I used to be able to do in a month now takes me week, etc. So, 2026 i…

How are you using AI and what sort of software are you building? I have similar years experience and regularly try out AI for development but always find it’s slower for the things I want to build and/or that it produces less than satisfactory results. Not sure if it’s how I use the models (I’ve experimented with all the frontier ones), or the types of things I’m building, or the languages I’m using, or if I’m not sp…

For me, it has gone through stages.

Initially I was astounded by the results.

Then I wrote a large feature (ad pacing) on a site using LLMs. I learned the LLMs did not really understand what they were doing. The algorithm (PID controller) itself was properly implemented (as there is plenty of data to train on), but it was trying to optimize the wrong thing. There were other similar findings where LLM was doing very stupid mistakes. So I went through a disillusionment stage and kind of gave up for a while.

Since then, I have learned how to use Claude Code effectively. I have used it mostly on existing Django code bases. I think everybody has a slightly different take on how it works well. Probably the most reasonable advice is to just keep going and try different kind of things. Existing code bases seem easier, as well as working on a spec beforehand, requiring tests etc. basic SWE principles.

Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?

#54

Post by araes »

FarmerPotato wrote: post #49

Write an operating system in Forth. I've digested Wirth's THE paper. And the XINU book, as well as the BSD book. Anyhow it's for my own use on my own hardware, but it must be beautiful. I've been encouraged by feedback on my Forth code's clear Forthiness, in the way of small, comprehendable word units. That add up to poetic top level loops like OVER PROCESS OVER SCHEDULE IDLE

That's a very specific skill development. I'd ask why Forth, yet guess because "must be beautiful"?

Seems like kind of strange / yet somewhat appropriate choice since Forth "traditionally use neither operating system nor file system." and "A full-featured Forth system with all source code will compile itself". Bootstrap your own operating system on a computer with literally nothing.

Interesting to read about though as a tangent, very different kind of language. "grammar has no official specification" "looks the word up in the dictionary" and then does whatever the dictionary specifies.

Good luck on the project though, seems like it fell out of use in the 80's and only got recovered recently. The Forth Interest Group comments on the subject are funny too. [1] "What ANS Forths are available?" -> "The simple answer is: none" Apparently somebody (Vincent Hamp) got it to work on Thumb-2 ISA (ARMv7-M and newer) though. Tiny. 7kb flash, 320B of ram. [2]

[1] https://www.forth.org/ansforth/ansforth.html

[2] https://gitlab.com/higaski/Shi

Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?

#57

Post by Fhch6HQ »

AdieuToLogic wrote: post #27
kenrick95 wrote: post #7

I want to learn driving. I live in a city with well-connected public transport (Singapore) so I don't feel the need to learn. However, this year I travelled to some rural areas in Japan and started to feel the pain of relying solely on public transport which is either extremely sparse, or sometimes non-existent which limits the places I want to visit. That's why I felt like if I obtain this skill, I can explore more…

> I want to learn driving. Two low-risk and cheap ways to develop relevant driving skills are bumper cars[0] and go-karts[1]. This may appear to be silly at first, but both involve the same hand-eye coordination and decision skills of vehicular driving (though the latter is no where nearly as fun as the others). 0 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumper_cars 1 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go-kart

This is a curious suggestion. Higher end go-karts I can't contest, but I've never found bumper cars to be anything like operating a car. It would probably help, but at some point they're going to need to drive something with more weight and horsepower.

Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?

#58

Post by araes »

eleventhborn wrote: post #42

Technical skills: - Launch my own hand-rolled paper trading solution by mid to late 2026. I want to focus on strategies that prevents heavy losses, rather than actively looking for profits. If I succeed, go live in 2027. - I hope to complete 3 semesters with a B or above in the ongoing Online Masters Degree program I've enrolled for. - Do more coding with AI. - Be prepared for job interviews - even though I have no p…

I find it difficult to read "hand-rolled paper trading solution" without thinking toilet paper. "focus on strategies that prevents heavy losses"

I donno, I think I kind of like somebody else's skill objective about trying out shitposting. It's the age deucine (credit @naasking).

Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?

#59

Post by biztos »

kenrick95 wrote: post #7

I want to learn driving. I live in a city with well-connected public transport (Singapore) so I don't feel the need to learn. However, this year I travelled to some rural areas in Japan and started to feel the pain of relying solely on public transport which is either extremely sparse, or sometimes non-existent which limits the places I want to visit. That's why I felt like if I obtain this skill, I can explore more…

Great idea!

Although I have "known" how to drive for a long time, I didn't get my formal license until much later in life than most people, for similar reasons to yours.

Now that I have it, I kick myself for not doing this earlier, but as they say: the best time was ten years ago, the second-best time is now.

Owing to the city life I often go up to six months without driving anywhere, but when I finally get out on the road again it feels great. Country driving is amazing, in any country where people drive safely. It's even pretty nice where they don't. City driving still stresses me out, but I'm determined to get better at it.

Good luck! If you find yourself having trouble getting the license in Singapore, there are other countries where you could get a license more easily, and with that license you could drive in third countries.

Re: Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2026?

#60

Post by LouisSayers »

strangelove026 wrote: post #45

Develop a calistenics practice. Ive been to the gym more on than off over the past few years and feel like I’ve plateaued. I also had a minor thing that I’ve gone to the physio for recently and I prefer the routine of doing those exercises (which would be similar to a calistenics practice in a lot of ways) to going to the gym. Kettlebell and pull up bar to be ordered when I’m back from India I recently bought a stain…

If you're into the gym and cooking, consider getting a cast iron frying pan.

Not only great for cooking, but it can also help with wrist strength - you may need to ease into lifting the pan with a single hand.

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