Common mistakes that developers make when learning - and how to avoid them

In the era of disruptive technology and the dominance of frameworks.

Training, development of skills and the ability to keep abreast of the latest technologies and trends - the bread and butter of any programmer. These are not bonus factors, but vital skills, without which you will not achieve your career goals. However, when training, developers make a number of common mistakes - no matter what stage of the career they are at. Let's discuss these errors today. I hope you can use two or three tips from here, and you will instantly start learning much more effectively.

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Have no curriculum

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They say that if you fail planning - it means that you plan to fail. This also applies to training. Sometimes the developer can not wait, he immediately hits the active learning, completely unprepared. Suppose you want to learn the React framework for the Javascript language and start reading React guides, without even knowing which areas to focus on, how to achieve the goal, that is, learn how to write React applications. In this case, it is better to study like this: we look at the official documentation, step by step we study the concepts from basic to advanced, familiarize ourselves with the API reference, write a pilot application on React, familiarize ourselves with other existing examples and set SMART goals at each stage of training. SMART goals are good because they are specific (specific), measurable (measurable), achievable (achievable), realistic (realistic) and limited in time (time-bound).

Do not have a clear end goal

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In the software development industry there are a lot of new technologies and new approaches. Do not misunderstand me: I believe that continuous learning is good. If you are ready to learn, then only expand your skill set and accumulate new knowledge. However, it happens that the developer is too susceptible to SUV (Opportunity Syndrome) and tries to explore all the new products that he has only heard about. Then he will not have time for productive work and the application of knowledge and skills for the cause. Before you learn something, I recommend that you think about why you are teaching this, where and how you are going to apply your new knowledge or skills. For example, if you are developing a database, but at the same time are learning Javascript, this means that you are going to switch to full-century development. Or, if you do DevOps and learn AWS, you may be pumping over to get a new job at a company that uses AWS.

Choosing a too broad topic

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Have everyone heard the expression “who and the little truck”? Sometimes the developer is too zealously trying to thoroughly examine the chosen topic, does not know how to clarify his plans, and sets an excessively broad goal during the training. You ask: “And when does“ too much ”come? I believe that the topic is too broad if you cannot describe in a few words to another developer the planned results of your training. The planned learning outcomes make it possible to judge what knowledge the developer should acquire from me based on the results of studying a specific topic. Naturally, any topic can be studied forever, however, there should be a limit, after which you will say to yourself: “everything is enough for now.” Enough to feel confident on the path to the ultimate goal. For example, here are some planned learning outcomes in the case of the Javascript React framework:

      ,  : -       React,  : --      JSON  REST API --     x  --     -- ,       (  ) --      

Please note: the results presented here are not described too concretely or in detail (for example, we do not write “create a component in JSX syntax”), because you do not yet know all the nuances of the React framework. They are not too wide: for each item a specific result is described, and not a lengthy and general one, such as “Create a React-application”.

Read and watch too many books, manuals, videos

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Manual fatigue is a reality. If you think that you really learn something, study endless books, videos and manuals, then just waste your time. Select several sources (books, videos, any other format) - and work with them. It is likely that the information that you learn from the video will overlap with the material of some other manual on the same topic. Another example: a quick search on Amazon on the React Javascript framework yields about 700 books, some with almost identical titles, like “Learning React”. To cope with all these books is unrealistic, and, even if you succeeded in it, it’s not yet a fact that you would become an expert on React or not waste your time.

Do not track progress

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It is good if you have a clear plan and specific goals, but they are of little use if you do not track your own progress and the pace of movement. Control your achievements every two weeks, at the very least - every month, check whether you are moving in the right direction. I recommend to put a reminder in the calendar in order to regularly evaluate the progress achieved from the very beginning of the educational process. If you are late in reaching your goals, then it’s quite likely that you yourself understand where it’s stalled — and correct your plans. On the other hand, if the goals are achieved - it is worth celebrating and moving on, so that the motivation is preserved.

Learn effectively

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Nowadays, the ability to learn effectively is a bonus and the key to professional success. I firmly believe that you can get used to anything, if you take the time to understand the essence of the process, and want to improve yourself. This also applies to training. Training is a skill that is gained in practice. Knowing what not to do is sometimes as important as knowing what to do when starting training. No wonder the Chinese social philosopher Confucius once said:

"Learning without thinking is a waste, thinking without learning is dangerous."
- Confucius

About the translator

The article is translated in Alconost.

Alconost is engaged in the localization of games , applications and sites in 68 languages. Language translators, linguistic testing, cloud platform with API, continuous localization, 24/7 project managers, any formats of string resources.

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