As programmers, we are happy once we get the job done. But coding with the same tools, patterns and working with the same people who agree with us again and again won’t help us gain insights into the coding concepts and it won’t push the envelope.
Why learning Coding Concepts are important
A deep understanding of the Coding concepts is quintessential for developers for the following reasons,
- It helps us to make our coding more efficient in terms of performance, lines of coding, readability and ease of change.
- Makes us better equipped with more tools. So now we have better understanding of the problem, and wide array of solutions.
- Learning new technologies and concepts is faster.
- Helps us to make better decisions, as we know better about the trade offs of using particular style, patterns, technology in our application.
Enough said,
Ways to improve our knowledge about coding concepts
- Be an avid reader. Read as many blogs and books as possible even on the topics you already know and on topics that you think won’t have a direct application. Understanding an another developer perspective brings more clarity and you might surprisingly find applications of those learning in your own application.
- Become a blogger: Blogging about your perspectives and your learning will attract comments from other developers. Developers might appreciate it and question your methods, in the end of the day, it’s a win-win situation.
- Train people: Training people sometimes forces us to explain complex concepts in simple words. It makes us to look at the concepts we already know from an another perspective and come up with a explanation creatively.
- Contribute to Opensource: Surrounding ourselves with people who agree with us will put us inside our comfort zone without our knowing. Look for opportunities to work with different people/environment/project/tools etc. Contributing to open source projects from a co-working space is a good idea.
- Attend the developers conference: Attend the developers conference even that are remotely connected to you. Understand the problems they face, the tools they use, the best practices they follow.
- Have a Hobby: Have a hobby that is no way related to computers. I suggest origami, it’s an art, challenges us, and it doesn’t involve computers or any other gadgets.
- Spend good time friends, family and nature.