5 Ways To Keep Up-To-Date As A Software Developer
By: Yamo Gebrewold
Tags: Programming, Software Development, Knowledge, Coding, Learning To Code

Photo on Unsplash by Caspar Camille Rubin.

Technology is steadily evolving. As human needs grow and newer solutions need to be invented to fulfil those needs, technologies also have to grow. Programmers will therefore have to make sure that they stay up-to-date with the latest technologies out there. Every now and then, new versions are released for the different programming languages, frameworks and libraries.

During the last five years, this has been true especially for web technologies. The way web applications are developed today differs a lot from how it was ten years ago. It all goes down to the fact that the users' needs grow, the browsers are getting better, and therefore new technologies need to be adopted to fulfil the current and future needs.

I know that this applies to any knowledge-based industry. The world is changing as a whole everyday, and we as workers will need to adapt to those changes. But I don’t think that any industry is evolving as quickly as the technology industry, and therefore it is crucial to stay up-to-date in order to survive in the industry.

With that being said, there sure are technologies that change very rarely, and that a programmer can learn and stick with for many years since there are few updates to those technologies. This is for example true for some older programming languages like Java and their ecosystems, where things are solid and stable and don’t change frequently. A JavaScript developer however will steadily have to stay up-to-date in order to keep the knowledge and technical competency relevant in the industry. Anyone who works with the JavaScript library React for example knows that the way things are done in React today with the fairly new Hooks API is quite different from how it was before.

When working a full-time job, you might not always have the time to actively search for tutorials and learning resources on your free time. A useful thing to do instead is to subscribe to different platforms and channels so that they notify you as soon as anything new has been introduced in your particular technology area.

You could technically go really deep and check out for any updates and new versions to the open-source repositories for a JavaScript framework on GitHub for example, but in my opinion I’m okay with knowing about the major version updates and not every minor version update.

I would like to share my five main ways of staying up-to-date with the technologies in my own area, which is primarily the JavaScript ecosystem (not following a particular order):

1. YouTube software development channels

That’s right. We shouldn’t underestimate how much we can learn from a free resource like YouTube. Especially when it comes to being updated about the latest technologies, some channels like Fireship and Decoded are really good at going through any new version update to a JavaScript framework for example.

As I mentioned before, the best part about this is that you don’t have to actively search for new information about an update, but your subscription will make sure that you get notified whenever something new arises. I also like the community that surrounds those YouTube channels where you can share your thoughts with other developers who share the same passion as you.

2. Medium

Even though it’s a matter of preference and some like recorded content over written content, I personally enjoy reading about technology. The great thing about reading is that you can do it practically anywhere. You don’t need equipment like a headset to consume information when you’re commuting for instance.

I like the wide variety of articles that Medium provides. I’m not excluding other platforms here, Medium is just an example. You can read on Quora, Reddit and a bunch of other places too.

3. Email list subscriptions

This one is not something I get very frequently. In fact I only subscribe to one or two software development email lists, which are built by Udemy instructors who I have followed and learned from.

I would like to give a special shout-out to Jonas Schmedtmann’s email list (no, I am not affiliated with him, I just appreciate his work) which you can subscribe to on codingheroes.io. I like the fact that he collects a bunch of interesting articles and insights about things that he has learned lately which are heavily related to web development and its wide ecosystem. Also, he doesn’t spam your inbox but only sends out emails once a month at the most.

If you know of any interesting email lists about software development, please do share it in a comment below.

4. Udemy course updates

This one I have to say is the hardest for me to stay up-to-date with, because it can be quite time-consuming compared to the other means mentioned above. But nevertheless it is a really good way of getting a solid understanding of how a technology has been updated and what new features have been included in a new version of a certain programming language or framework.

When I follow through tutorials on Udemy, I try to take a bunch of notes for future reference, and code along with the instructor. In actuality, coding along is good as it is active learning, but in many cases the sole purpose should be to get some exposure to new concepts in software development. The details of how to apply the technology in practice can always be found online when needed. If we spent half an hour a day watching some of those Udemy tutorials, we would definitely become a better developer over time.

5. At the workplace

We shouldn’t underestimate how much we actually learn when we work with developing software on a daily basis. Some circumstances force you to dive deep into a certain topic because you have a knowledge gap and you need to study because your task at work requires that knowledge.

When you repeatedly find yourself in these situations, you push your brain to its limits and gain huge benefits from that. It forms you into a great developer over time, under the condition that your work challenges you to go out of your comfort zone. If you however find yourself doing work that’s easy to repeat and doesn’t require much effort, then you probably aren’t growing and it might be time to look for a bigger challenge.

I have grown the most during these situations at work. And when you keep solving similar problems, you eventually reach a point where you become a type of authority in that area and you can mentor others and help them solve those problems, since you have been there many times yourself.

This is not to mention how much you can learn from your colleagues at work. When you know which strengths they have and what type of special expertise that they possess, you can ask the right questions and get insights that are hard to find elsewhere.

These are my ways of staying up-to-date with technology as a programmer. How do you make sure your skills are relevant in the industry? Feel free to share that in a comment. Thanks ☺️