A developer’s worth often rests in their ability to keep up with new technologies and learn new programming languages on the fly.
As I mentioned above, it can feel like you’re running on a never-ending hamster wheel of new technologies to remain “relevant.” This phenomenon is what drives people into tech… and what drives people away from tech.
In school, you have a pretty good idea of the languages you’ll learn and the technologies you’ll be working with. At the end of your degree, you’ll probably walk away having worked with six or seven languages and perhaps having dabbled in three different areas of development — each of which hosts various technologies. If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to land a job where you can use some of those languages and technologies. However, if you’re like the rest of us, you’ll probably have to learn something new to become relevant to a company.
Google, Stack Overflow, Reddit, GitHub Trending, and Medium are going to become your best friends as you try to keep up with hot new trends and technologies that will set you apart from other developers or will make you even more valuable to your company.
The trick is to know which languages and technologies are worth adding to your arsenal. My personal rule of thumb is that if the language/technology sticks around for a year or so and many developers give it great reviews, then I may consider learning it. By the one-year mark, the usability and practicality of a new language/technology will be revealed, and the industry will likely have decided if it becomes something mainstream.
How to learn new languages and technologies quickly
Is there a trick for learning new languages and technologies quickly?
Not exactly, but there are some things you can keep in mind that can help the process go smoothly.
First, you need to become fluent in coding fundamentals. Computational thinking and coding fundamentals apply to every programming language and technology out there. The only difference will be syntax, structure, and conventions.
Second, you need to code something using the language or technology that is more substantial than “Hello World.” If you have a short amount of time in which you need to learn something new, there’s no point in wasting it on coding “Hello World.” If, for example, you are learning a new programming language, you’re going to want to design a program that tests out how the language handles basic concepts. These concepts include printing out strings, accepting user input, storing this input for later use, handling simple algorithms, using data structures, and handling errors.
Third, you need to make sure you learn the basics of the new language or technology first before diving into the frameworks and other features that go along with it. Frameworks and features are built using the concepts of the language or base technology. Therefore, you need to learn the basics before you can get into all of the good stuff.
Finally, you should strive for understanding — not perfection. There is so much stress associated with having to learn new languages and technologies on the fly, especially if your job depends on it. Therefore, don’t get distracted by creating the cleanest solutions possible. Instead, focus on using the language or technology to the best of its ability and ensure that you can use it to write bug-free code that runs and gets the job done.