To Every Programmer Who’s Ever Eve r Scanned Hacker News And /r/programming And Thought...
How Wi!! " Ever #eep $p%& Here’s How To Tu Turn "n'ormation "n'ormati on (verwhe!m& (verwhe! m& "nto An E''iciency Edge That )an *uick!y +oost ,o ,our "ncomeEarn ,ou P& Status With ,our TeamAnd ake ,ou The "n01emand 1eve!oper )ompanies Are 1ying To 2ecruit There’s this whip-smart developer I know of—I’ll call him “Mike.” Mike is a learning machine. He zips throgh podcasts at !" speed on his commte# devors online corses at his desk with lnch# and $ggles !-% technical &ooks &etween the 'indle app on his i(hone and the dead trees &) his &ed. He does all this &ecase he’s seen how fast things change in software development. *ince he ct his teeth as a programmer at + )ears old ,Tr&o for M*-/*0# Mike’s seen entire langages and platforms come and go1 2isal3asic# 4ctive"# old5sion. He converted from 236 to .78T# then learned (H( and the 94M( stack. He invested heavil) in o$o ,&efore $:er) killed it dead0. He flirted with *ilverlight and 5lash ntil plgins &ecame evil and HTM9; rode in to save the da). Toda) he
rnt or >lp will eventall) “win.”
Most nights )o’ll find him plgging awa) on one of a half dozen side pro$ects. ode at work# code at night# lifehack all the time. Mike loves learning and he loves his $o&. 3t even with all the e?tra hors he
S!ipping A 3itt!e 4urther +ehind Every 1ay =st a&ot ever) da) he hears a&ot a new “it’ll change )or life” tool. /r a coworker shoehorns )et another v @.A =ava*cript li&rar) into the code&aseB His &rain is alread) red-lining. Chat happens when he gets that title &mp—and sddenl) the meetings wipe ot his lnchtime learning sessionD 4nd will he &e a&le to keep p his side pro$ects when the new &a&) arrivesD I totall) identif) with Mike# &ecase a few )ears ago# that was me. M) name is =ohn *onmez. I’ve &een writing code for more than !; )ears. I’m also a software consltant to companies like Hewlett (ackard and 2erizon ,who pa) pwards of E;@@ per hor for access to me0B 4 career coach to thosands of developers throgh m) *imple (rogrammer we&site ,which receives more than A.F million visits a )ear0B
=ohn *onmez has p&lished more online developer training than an) other programmer.
4nd the g) who’s prodced more online training for software developers than an)one else alive. I’m not sa)ing an) of this to &rag—I $st want )o to take seriosl) what I’m a&ot to sa) ne?t1
Today’s So'tware 1evs Are $nder ore Pressure To Stay Sharp& Than Ever +e'ore 4 few )ears ago# we& developers cold pll down a decent salar) armed with nothing &t a te?t editor and a solid nderstanding of HTM9# pls ma)&e a little ** and =ava*cript. Those da)s are gone. Toda)’s emplo)ers want “fll stack” developers—software storm troopers who can parachte in and1 • • •
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*pew ot frontend M2G code in 4nglar=*# 8m&er 47 3ack&one *pin p scala&le# performant server-side code in .78T Maintain data integrit) while passing o&$ects &etween not one &t for different /Ms ,inclding one homegrown hair&all ever)one’s afraid to toch0 Memorize ever) irk and twitch of ; ma$or &rowsers ,and J versions of I80 4nd don’t forget a&ot testing# &ild atomation# mo&ile responsive la)ot# HTM9; video encodings pls a million more “critical path” topicsB
4nd if )o
This +reakneck Pace "s Acce!eratingAnd There’s No End "n Sight Technolog) ena&les technolog). The faster or hardware gets# and the more efficient or rntimes and processing engines get# the more demands there are on )o# the developer. 7ew langages and platforms to &ild mlti-threaded apps. 7ew standards and specifications. 7ew frameworks that promise to hide all the hideos comple?it)—&t trn ot to &e )et another leak) a&straction.
Most developers I know are responding to this &) hoarding information. The)’re driving themselves to the &rink of &rnot to cram ever) scrap of knowledge possi&le into their &rains. The)’ve &een fed a lie—that their knowledge of the latest and greatest langages# tools and platforms is what determines their vale. I sed to &elieve this lie too. 5or )ears I dedicated ever) moment I cold spare to consming &ooks and ponding throgh video corses. 3t as I gained e?perience# I realized that this was a game I cold never win. 3ecase ; )ears from now ;@K ,or more0 of what )o “know” will &e o&solete. 4nd I came to see that it wasn’t m) knowledge of L or *:9 that was the ke) to advancing in m) career.
The ost "mportant Ski!! Any So'tware 1eve!oper )an Have "s5 #nowing How to 3EA2N 4nd I’m not talking a&ot $st sirreling awa) knowledge for “someda).” Toda)’s sccessfl developer is a master at diving deep into a new piece of tech# slicing it into &ite-sized chnks and a&sor&ing the critical !@K that lets him work prodctivel) while other developers are still scratching their heads and searching *tack /verflow. I have this a&ilit) toda)—&t I didn’t alwa)s. 4 few )ears ago# learning an) new technolog) felt like em&arking on an endless trek to Mordor. Here’s what I’d do1
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Hit p 4mazon and &) ever) &ook that looked remotel) related. (ick p the first &ook I &oght and plow right throgh from page A throgh to page F6. epeat for ;-A@ more &ooks. Track down video corses &) well-known e?perts and &) them. *it down and watch the corse end to end.
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epeat with ever) video corse and NoT&e series I cold find. *cor the we& for &log posts and add an)thing that seemed important to m) reading list. *pend hors poring throgh the &log posts# looking for new scraps of information that I’d missed.
This whole process was 8499N time consming. I’d spend weeks or even months to get m) arms arond a new programming langage. 4nd ever) time I thoght I had a good handle on the topic# I’d stm&le across some new ra&&it trail that I hadn’t e?plored )et. The goal posts were alwa)s moving. The longer and harder I stdied# the more the topic seemed to e?pand in all directions. I never got that satisfaction of “done”—and eventall) I’d $st get overwhelmed and move on to something that seemed more interesting or rgent. Corst of allB
When " Tried To App!y What "’d 3earned& " )ou!dn’t 2emem6er Ha!' (' "t7 4s frstrating as all this was# I $st assmed it was part of the process. That is ntil I made a discover) that changed the wa) I learn forever. *everal )ears ago# I took a side $o& creating online training corse. 4t first I was in heaven—I was getting paid teach what I knew a&ot software development. (rett) soon# thogh# I hit a little snagB I ran ot of things to teach. >oogle had $st released >o# so I thoght# “Chat the heck# I’ll do a corse on that.” 4fter crising throgh m) corses on =ava# 4ndroid# i/* and several other langages and platforms I knew well# this >o corse felt like slamming into a &rick wall. *ddenl) I realized how horri&l) inefficient and painfl m) wa) of learning reall) was. I was spending weeks and weeks to create a single corse.
M) old approach to learning wasn’t going to ct it. I had to adapt# and 54*T.
So " Threw (ut Everything " #new& A6out 3earning I stopped tr)ing to &rte-force the information into m) &rain ntil m) e)es &led and m) &rain &egged for merc). I took charge of m) own learning# rather than letting &ook athors and other “e?perts” psh their preconceived ideas on me. I fond a wa) to get down to the &are essentials that wold give me a prodctive# working knowledge of the topic in the shortest time possi&le. That >o corse took for long weeks to create. 3t with the discoveries I made a&ot learning efficientl)# I was soon prodcing corses in three weeksB Then two weeksB Ontil I was cranking ot a new corse ever) F-+ da)s. I’d ct m) std) time down to &arel) a third of what it was. 4nd what reall) srprised me was this1
The 4aster " 3earned- The ore " 2etained This reall) caght me off gard. M) motto in life is that nothing is free—there’s alwa)s a tradeoff. *o I e?pected that the tradeoff for rapid learning is a shallower nderstanding and less a&ilit) to appl) what )o’ve learned. Trns ot# it’s the opposite. 4s I improved m) learning efficienc)# m) a&ilit) to retain and appl) the information went throgh the roof.
That’s &ecase I wasn’t clttering m) &rain with trivial details. Instead I zeroed in on the ke) concepts—then applied the knowledge as I learned# locking it into m) long-term memor). 7ot onl) was I learning %" faster# now I didn’t need to constantl) circle &ack and relearn the &asics over and over. I realized thatB
ost Peop!e Approach 3earning 3ike A Noo6 Writes S*3 Chat happens when )o se A@ different eries to &ild p a datasetD It works# sre# &t it is *9///////C. 4n) programmer with a rdimentar) knowledge of *:9 can throw in a handfl of =/I7 statements# and 3//M# that 6@-second operation finishes in %. 9earning is the same wa). There’s no advantage to spending J weeks to learn something )o cold master in A. 4ll )o’ve done is &rn time and &rain c)cles. I ran with this mind-&ending insight and contined to refine m) new wa) of learning while creating corse after corse. /ver the ne?t AF months# I tackled more than %@ topics# inclding art# 9a# HTM9; game development# Meteor=* and edis. I knew I was on to something when other developers kept commenting on how “stick)” m) trainings were. 3ecase I was em&edding m) learning approach into m) corses# m) stdents were retaining more too. Cithot tr)ing# I had stm&led onB
A 4!e8i6!e 4ramework 4or +reaking 1own 3itera!!y AN,TH"N9 ,ou Want To aster And 1own!oading The "n'ormation 2ight "nto ,our +rain With a8imum
E''iciency
4nd I had to share what I’d learned with m) fellow software developers. *o I set ot to reverse-engineer and s)stematize what I’d &een doing &) instinct. I spent weeks o&serving m)self as I learned# looking for patterns I cold e?tract. 4nd when I finall) &oiled it all down# I came p with a seence of steps that an)one cold follow. I call them theB
:; Steps To 3earn Anything *uick!y iscovering these technies for )orself will change )or entire otlook on software development—$st like it did for me. Instead of feeling overwhelmed &) the flood of “mst-know” new technologies# frameworks and tools that )o’re &om&arded with ever) da)# )o’ll adopt a Pen-like attitde toward the chrn. No’ll rela? in the knowledge that )o /7’T have to $mp on ever) new trend ,or risk getting left &ehind0. No’ll have the confidence that )o can pick p a new technolog) and know it &ack to front in a few da)s or a cople of weeks. Instead of feeling scattered and distracted# )or learning time will have laser-like focs and strctre. 4nd )o’ll finall) e?perience the satisfaction of actall) 5I7I*HI7>. No’ll know when )o’ve learned enogh and )o’re read) to move on. This A@-step s)stem will show )o1
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How &reaking ot of the “learning cattle chte” can help )o master even the most challenging technologies ickl). The reason wh) inclding a mandator) “pla) time” in )or std) sessions can rocket )o p the learning crve faster than )o thoght possi&le—even thogh )o feel like )o’re $st goofing off. 4 relia&le heristic for knowing what to read—and what to ignore. That’s right1 mping that massive stack of nread &ooks and deleting )or Instapaper ee will actall) make )o a faster learner. ,This will free )o from “4mazon reading list gilt” forever.0 How to harness )or natral creativit) and criosit) for &etter# faster learning ,with zero frstration and overwhelm0. How to chart )or own corse for learning a new topic. This will free )o from the soft t)rann) of &ook athors and trainers who think the) know the &est wa) for )o to learn. The % critical estions )o mst answer when )o start learning an)thing new. ,on’t waste weeks wandering arond lost and confsed. These estions will point )o in the right direction# ever) time.0 How to ickl) get a “toehold” on an) new topic &efore )o dive deep. This technie lets )o skip right past the part where )or head spins from overwhelm. How to &reak ot of the “infinite reading loop#” where the more )o read# the more )or reading list grows. The wa) to set )orself p for learning sccess. Chen )o do this# )o’ll know when )o’re done with a topic and read) to move on to new challenges. How )o can se )or new learning sperpowers to ickl) gain respect as a leader and an athorit). Nor team will look to )o when it’s time to evalate new technologies# and )o’ll have top-notch emplo)ers &eating down )or door. How to learn more &) learning less. ,This is critical to eliminating overwhelm—and actall) ptting what )o’re learning into practice.0
Here’s How "t Works A@ *teps To 9earn 4n)thing :ickl) is 7/T a “talking head” lectre on a&stract concepts. 5or this corse# I wanted to show )o the technies in action. *o I decided to let )o “look over m) sholder” as I teach m)self a &rand new skill—how to create pi?el art. Cith each step# we’ll start with a &rief overview of what’s involved# inclding )or goal for the step and the specific actions )o’ll take. Then )o’ll get to hear m) thoghts as I perform the steps right in front of )o on camera. 4s I npack the first 6 steps for )o will1 •
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>o from feeling overwhelmed and intimidated &) new domain )o’re tackling to confidence that )o nderstand the &readth and scope of )or topic. iscover that )o now “know what )o don’t know”B
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evelop )or own cstom# $st-for-)o action plan that la)s ot e?actl) what )o’re going to learn and what steps )o will take to install this new knowledge in )or &rain.
Then in the last J steps# )o’ll chew throgh )or learning action plan in record time. This part is fn# &ecase )o’ll tap into )or own criosit) and child-like desire to e?plore. There’s even a M474T/N pla) time—and a chance to show off ever)thing )o’ve learned. 4nd it all helps to anchor )or new knowledge in )or &rain so )o can pll it ot months or )ears later and it’s read) there# e?actl) when )o need it. The entire corse is presented in A! H-alit) .mpJ videos. The videos are M-free# so )o can download and convert them for viewing on the pla)er of )or choice. ,/r even speed them p to !" if that’s )or thing.0 4nd tre to the spirit of “learning ickl)#” the technies in this corse won’t take )o weeks of std) to master. In fact# )o get the entire s)stem in $st ! tightl) edited mintes. That means )o can rip throgh the whole corse over )or ne?t lnch &reak and then pt the s)stem to work for )o immediatel). I pt a lot of thoght and effort into creating this corse# and the videos reall) stand alone. 3t I want to do ever)thing in m) power to see )o master these A@ steps. *o I’ve pt together a heft) collection of add-ons and &onses to help )o—and )o get them at 7/ e?tra charge1
+onus <: 0 :; Steps to 3earn ,our Ne8t Programming 3anguage =NEW> 4fter I first released A@ *teps to 9earn 4n)thing :ickl)# I started hearing the same estion over and over from developers who went throgh the program1 QHe) =ohn# in the corse )o show how )o taght )orself to create
Qan I se the A@ *teps process to learn a new programming langageDQ I can see how that estion might come p. (icking p a new programming langage is definitel) more complicated than learning pi?el art. It a&ot... Then I walk throgh each of the A@ *teps# sharing at each point e?actl) how I wold appl) that step. No
reading list—and help )o plow throgh the ones )o do read in record time - 4 technie for triggering the little QahaR momentsQ that will hardwire the concepts )o
Bonus #2 - “Paint By Numbers” Workbook I cover a lot of grond in this corse—it’s a packed# fast-paced ! mintes of instrction. To help )o appl) each step in a strctred# eas) to follow wa)# I created this %!-page work&ook. The work&ook incldes a concise smmar) of each step# as well as estions that make it “paint &) nm&ers” eas) to appl) each step. This work&ook alone is almost as vala&le as the video training# &ecase it gides )or thinking as )o appl) the concepts I cover in the corse. Chile I was “&eta testing” this corse# I sold the work&ook separatel). 4lmost ever)one who &oght the corse also &oght and sed the work&ook. The) paid an additional EA@ to prchase the work&ook# &t )o get it here for free. 2ale1 EA@
Bonus #3 - Word-for-Word Transcripts (A !2 "ideos These nct transcripts are perfect to keep hand) as a ick reference when )o want to refresh )or memor) a&ot a step in the process withot scro&&ling throgh the videos. I’d highl) recommend printing this (5 ot and keeping it with )o while )o watch the videos. No can nderline ke) points and make notes in the margins. This transcript wold cost )o E% $st for the transcription itself ,pls an e?tra E!! for the editing and formatting0# &t )o get it as part of this package at no additional cost. 2ale1 E+;
Bonus #$ - %ied-&ut “'eat &ff )y *ome+ork” Workbook Chen I &eta tested this corse# stdents said the) wanted even more detail a&ot how I se the s)stem m)self. *o I’m inclding a (5 with m) notes from the live pi?el art demonstration )o’ll see in the videos.
This completed work&ook will give )o even more insight into how I think as I’m approaching a new topic to ma?imize m) learning efficienc). No’ll see the e?act level of detail I se when I work throgh each step and the t)pes of information I collect. Cith this completed work&ook# )o’ll know how deep to dig at each level—and when )o’re overthinking a step and spinning )or wheels. 2ale1 EA@
Bonus #, - .cusi/e “0our Tou1est uestions Ans+ered” Bonus "ideo I’ve done ever)thing I can to keep this s)stem simple and streamlined to se. 3t once in a while m) stdents still get hng p or &locked on one of the steps. Ma)&e the) aren’t sre how a step applies to the specific topic the)’re std)ing.
/r the)’re tr)ing to appl) the s)stem to learn something that seems a little different than what I covered in the training.
To help )o see how to appl) this s)stem to )or nie sitation# I recorded an e?clsive# +@minte Qask me an)thingQ video class $st for )o. In this training# I took estions from more than %@ software developers—live# with no net# inclding1 - How deep shold )o dive when tackling a new topicD - How shold )o change )or learning approach when )o
Here?s What?s @"n The +o8@
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! mintes of instrction in A! M-free# H-alit) videos ,E+0 JA-Minte QA@ *teps to 9earn Nor 7e?t (rogramming 9angageQ 3ons Modle ,E%%@0 %%-page (5 transcript for reference and note-taking ,E+;0 (rinta&le %!-page (5 work&ook that walks )o throgh each step in the s)stem ,EA@0 (re-filled e?ample work&ook that shows &low &) &low how I strctred m) pi?el art learning plan ,EA@0 +@-minte :S4 video training ,E;@@0
