Ask HN: How do you decide what to learn next? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: How do you decide what to learn next?

#11

Post by brightball » Sun, Apr 24, 2016, 1:33 PM UTC

Usually if something is interesting it's because you're thinking about it in the context of a problem that you need to solve. Basically, it's interesting because you see the potential value.

That generally is what drives what I learn. I'm about to start getting deep into BPM2 and Activiti because it looks like it will solve an organizational problem that I'm currently observing, just as an example. Otherwise it's not really connected to anything I would be doing otherwise (although there are a few potential use cases if I understand the system the way I think I do).

Re: Ask HN: How do you decide what to learn next?

#12

Post by mapcars » Sun, Apr 24, 2016, 1:35 PM UTC

I just feel it.

Re: Ask HN: How do you decide what to learn next?

#13

Post by agentultra » Sun, Apr 24, 2016, 1:39 PM UTC

Usually I'm pursuing something. Along the way as I gain experience and encounter difficulties I put my head up and look for solutions. I don't always find what I'm looking for but it gives me hunches. When those hunches collide I get ideas and from there it becomes pretty clear what I know and what I need to learn in order to progress.

I'm presently learning predicate calculus and formal specifications of software systems. I came to it by hunches: software engineering should be more like engineering because companies like Yahoo! Japan are building earthquake notification systems on OSS infrastructure and the keynotes at Blackhat suggested it was a requisite for this industry to move forward. It turns out the math is beautiful and it helps me design better software and I'm only just getting started.

It has also added new things to my list of things to learn such as the refinement calculus as well as alternative modelling systems like Event-B.

Re: Ask HN: How do you decide what to learn next?

#14

Post by mhurron » Sun, Apr 24, 2016, 1:40 PM UTC

voltagex_ wrote: post #3

Don't underestimate "this is interesting". Couple it with a goal (like building a personal site, doing some home automation, building a NAS) and make sure you take notes (if not a blog). You'll learn heaps in no time.

> Don't underestimate "this is interesting".

That's pretty much me. Someone will say something, or I will see something somewhere and a little bit of looking it up to find out what was being talked about might pique some interest and off we go.

Re: Ask HN: How do you decide what to learn next?

#15

Post by gd2 » Sun, Apr 24, 2016, 1:40 PM UTC

I should do better, because I've been random in deciding what to learn But some combination of: found good teaching materials, people I'm in contact with are learning it, and this could pay off big.

Re: Ask HN: How do you decide what to learn next?

#16

Post by mysticmode » Sun, Apr 24, 2016, 1:44 PM UTC

I learn things by setting a purpose. Eg: For a web project, I need to learn new programming technologies.

I have a very sensitive mind. I can't concentrate on multiple projects at the same time. For example: If I'm working in a day job, I can't work on a side project efficiently, I can't concentrate on both my office work and side projects. If I do, My employer could easily figure that I'm churning out.

So, If I want to work on a project.. I'll make sufficient money then I quit my job and spend next coming months fully-fledged on my project.

Re: Ask HN: How do you decide what to learn next?

#17

Post by DavidSJ » Sun, Apr 24, 2016, 1:44 PM UTC

When in doubt, learn more math.

Re: Ask HN: How do you decide what to learn next?

#18

Post by cubano » Sun, Apr 24, 2016, 1:45 PM UTC

I'm not really convinced if its even possible for me to learn something that I'm not interested in.

[edit] By learn, I don't mean simple regurgitation of the facts or some superficial thing, I'm talking about extended study and efforts.

Re: Ask HN: How do you decide what to learn next?

#19

Post by noir_lord » Sun, Apr 24, 2016, 1:57 PM UTC

lalwanivikas wrote: post #6

noir_lord wrote: post #2

Generally I look at the stuff I do day to day and then honestly critique myself for where I'm weakest and then learn from that. Since I'm the only dev and I have to do back end and front end I realised that I was weakest on the front end (particularly JavaScript) so I made a concerted effort to learn JavaScript properly since apart from picking it up organically for years I'd never really studied it. The funny part (…

What resources are you using to learn JavaScript? Any advice for people just starting on this path?

https://github.com/getify/You-Dont-Know-JS and the associated videos where excellent.

Javascript: The Good Parts (though this is a bit full on if you are really just getting started).

Reading the source of popular libraries as well in a good IDE so you can jump around and get to where stuff is defined/created.

Re: Ask HN: How do you decide what to learn next?

#20

Post by vijayr » Sun, Apr 24, 2016, 1:58 PM UTC

mhurron wrote: post #14

voltagex_ wrote: post #3

Don't underestimate "this is interesting". Couple it with a goal (like building a personal site, doing some home automation, building a NAS) and make sure you take notes (if not a blog). You'll learn heaps in no time.

> Don't underestimate "this is interesting". That's pretty much me. Someone will say something, or I will see something somewhere and a little bit of looking it up to find out what was being talked about might pique some interest and off we go.

This doesn't work at all for me. Something seems interesting to me (and my problem is, a lot of things interest me) and I start reading up on it, somewhere along the way there is something else that is referenced, which also seems interesting, so I read up on that...and so on. Pretty soon I've deviated far from where I started.

Interestingly, this doesn't happen in my day job :(