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

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

#61

Post by exDM69 »

I've got a TODO list of things I want to learn that's populated enough to keep me busy for years to come. I just wish I had more time to act on it.

The items on my list are half concrete tasks and half topics to learn. The subjects are very diverse, I have a broad range of interests.

Here's a few from the top:

    1. Learn enough classical mechanics to do a stable n body simulation
    2. Build a piece of furniture with mortise and tenon joinery
    3. Implement a prototype compiler for that GPGPU/shader programming language I've been dreaming about for years
    4. Get an Indian fighter kite and learn to fly it
    5. Implement a multiple revolution Lambert problem solver to plan the badassest Kerbal Space Program mission ever
    6. Write a simulator for gyroscopic motion and compare the results with my toy gyroscopes.
That's enough to occupy my Saturdays for the next five years. Both, the sunny and the rainy ones.

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

#63

Post by S4M »

beilabs wrote: post #5

I'm someone who has decided not to learn new language or framework that comes my way. If there is something that can speed up my workflow, I learn it. If it improves my applications speed without much time to implement / learn then I work on that. For new shiny Javascript libraries I really have held back to see what the winner will be; backbone used to be the go-to lib, ember (tried to learn but it changed a lot in…

What made you decide to learn React and not any other framework you mentioned?

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

#67

Post by moron4hire »

I keep my notebooks. I scribble notes in them all the time, and then when I have downtime I look back through them. It's great for recapturing ideas, but it's also great for avoiding retrodding the same paths again. I am prone to forgetting I've done certain small things before and then I lose time on re-implementing the early parts of it. For example, I've rebooted this one project 4 times without even realizing it: a solar-system wide cross between Moon Lander and Asteroids with a simple, multiplayer mining economy.

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

#68

Post by jqm »

Back up and ask why you should want to learn. People sometimes assume we should all be learning everything but the reality is we can't and we won't. So we need to focus.

I've seen a lot of people that flit around and start this and that or take an online class but then never build anything with the technology. After a year or two they are pretty much no better off for the effort than if they had used the time to drink beer at the beach.

So my philosophy is now to spend a small amount of time investigating. How useful is this to myself or an employer? How interesting it? How much time and effort is going to be required to learn this well enough to work it? If it's more than I'm willing to put out or the thing has limited use or interest then I don't even bother. I know it's there if I want to come back later. But if I'm not going to learn it to the point it becomes a useful tool I generally don't bother starting.

I have found that half efforts are about half the effort of a full effort but they don't produce half the results. So they are by in large a waste of time and energy.

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

#69

Post by extrapickles »

I pick a part of a computer I don't know it works and try doing it myself.

Everything from making a cpu from 74 series logic to writing a toy compiler. If you don't have much free time, just researching how to implement various parts of a computer works is good as actual implementation takes a large amount of time (eg: the cpu required learning basic electronic skills). Now that I've gone through a basic computer stack, I'm doing that bits that interest me in more detail.

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

#70

Post by hoodwink »

tedmiston wrote: post #33
codecurve wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just to add to this, pick up an Amazon Kindle. There's almost no-where you can't read when your entire library fits in a pocket or a rucksack. I've been travelling for most of this year and my kindle comes second to only my laptop on the list of essentials.

I actually haven't bought one yet because I was under the impression code rendering was still less than ideal (e.g., lines wrapping to fit the Kindle screen where they shouldn't in code). Is that still an issue?

Yes, this is an issue on the Kindle device, but reading textbooks in the Kindle app on the iPad is gamechanging. The speed with which you make highlights, leave notes, and bookmark is great for learning. I can then access the book from my computer for quick reference and/or convert my booknotes to Anki flashcards.

This being said, I also own a Kindle Paperwhite and use it at least an hour a day for reading non-technical books. I can't recommend that device enough.

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