Arm Learning Paths
Tags: aws, arm
Published: 2023-06-27 13:29:20

One of the reasons I joined the [AWS Community Builders program](https://aws.amazon.com/developer/community/community-builders/) is to share articles about AWS Graviton processors in the [AWS Community Builders DEV organization](https://dev.to/aws-builders).

After joining, I got started right away, and I try to share a handful of original articles every year. I feel like the material is well received, and I have provided a meaningful contribution for those learning about Graviton processors and the Arm architecture.

I am now entering my 4th year in the Community Builders program.

Last year, I noticed that my past articles might need some updating as things have changed since 2020. Software versions change, Windows 10 is now Windows 11, and new Graviton-based EC2 instance types are available.

I also learned that blogging is not exactly the same thing as publishing hands-on how-to content for developers, especially in the updating area. After some research and development into what else would be useful for software developers, I’m excited to share [Arm Learning Paths](https://learn.arm.com).

Learning Paths provide long-form, written how-to content for software developers.

## Background

As a long-time blogger, I have written many articles linking news and events with new tools, hardware, and software as a way to learn.

Over time, the news fades, but the technical content is still important. Readers wonder if the material is still correct or if they should search for something else. Some of my past articles are currently in this state.

I knew I wanted to share more written how-to content, but didn't always feel like writing more blogs was the answer.

Documentation is another way to deliver written how-to content, but documentation is tied to a product such as a tool, software library, or API. It doesn't always provide the context and big picture about how things work. Sometimes documentation provides too much information.

About a year ago, my small team started investigating long-form, written how-to content at Arm. We found useful content in many places:

- Guides on developer.arm.com
- Blogs on community.arm.com
- Articles on general social media sites such as LinkedIn
- Community specific sites such as blog.tensorflow.org, hackster.io and dev.to

I have written and read articles in all these places. They are all fine, but none of them felt like what I wanted to do.

To find out more, we conducted interviews and did market research into what developer surveys tell us.

From the research, we established a list of things we wanted developers to be able to do:

- Explore platforms, tools, and software available for the Arm architecture
- Learn from hands-on, how-to content grouped by target hardware platforms
- Find out what’s possible and explore what can be done with Arm
- Understand the context and alternatives when there are multiple ways to do a task

Two key points stood out.

We needed to provide an easy environment for creators to publish to a location with high traffic.

Learning Paths must be a community project for everyone to participate.

## Building Learning Paths

Last year, we started to prototype the Learning Path website with the following characteristics:

- Fast, static website on an arm.com URL
- Easy publishing flow using markdown files
- Community contributions via GitHub
- Appropriate governance
- Timeless, quality content
- Free from direct marketing
- Always up to date
- Automated testing and maintenance
- Open-source license which complies with Arm open-source requirements
- Analytics and dashboard
- No content behind a login
- Meets performance, security, and accessibility requirements

We have now completed the Learning Path website with the listed characteristics and are ready to share it with you.

Over the approximately one year of development, we have had:
- 15+ contributors
- Over 2000 git commits
- 90+ Learning Paths
- 45+ Install Guides

The content is now available on [learn.arm.com](learn.arm.com) for you to review and share. All content is stored in a [GitHub project](https://github.com/ArmDeveloperEcosystem/arm-learning-paths) and uses [Hugo](https://www.gohugo.io) to generate a static website. The website automatically updates when new content is reviewed and accepted.

## Give it a try

There are a number of Learning Paths covering AWS services in the [Servers and Cloud Computing](https://learn.arm.com/learning-paths/servers-and-cloud-computing/) category. 

Please share [learn.arm.com](https://learn.arm.com) in places you connect with software developers and tool providers.

You can create a Learning Path or submit improvements via GitHub. Click the **Create** button on the front page to find out more about how to create a Learning Path. 

Feel free to send me a message for a 10-minute quick start.

Time will tell how well the concept is received, but I hope Learning Paths become another useful place for creators to publish and readers to learn.

I will continue to write here in the AWS Community Builders DEV organization also. Congratulations to everyone for creating so many useful articles.