# The map is not the territory
-Discuss the ever-changing facets of programming and how keeping current with it all is both a challenge and a myth
## The changing landscape of programming
-The one constant about the field of programming is that it is always in flux. Programming languages come into prominence and the fade away over time. What once was a given is now considered obsolete (or even "harmful", as many essays will point out).
+The one constant in the field of programming is that it is always in flux. Programming languages come into prominence and the fade away over time. What once was a given is now considered obsolete (or even "harmful", as many essays will point out).
-When I graduated college we learned Pascal, Modula2 and Ada. When I started my first "professional" programming position Perl was the language of choice (partly because Perl could be easily transformed into the ubiquitous CGI scripts of the era). As of this writing I'm using Python as my main development language, and I foresee that at some point I'll likely have to look into the other languages that are becoming more common.
+When I graduated college we learned Pascal, Modula2 and Ada. Unfortunately those languages were starting to decline in popularity in favor of C. When I started my first "professional" programming position Perl was the language of choice (partially because Perl could be easily transformed into the ubiquitous CGI scripts of the era, and was considered superior to scripting tools like `awk` and traditional shell scripts). As of this writing I'm using Python as my main development language, and I foresee that I'll have to look into other languages to expand my programming career.
-Programming requires flexibility. It's difficult to just learn one way of doing things and make that stick for over 20 years. Think back to what the technology was 20 years ago and you'll no doubt notice that things are quite different now.
+Programming requires flexibility. It's difficult to learn only one way of doing things and have that stick for over 20 years. Think back to what was current technology 20 years ago and you'll no doubt notice that things are quite different now. (If you would like a fun exercise see if you can find articles describing the state-of-the-art technology from 20 years ago and see how much of it you recognize.)
## Learning to learn
-Instead of learning specific methodologies and technologies we programmers are better served by learning how to learn. That sounds simple: once we've cracked how to learn effectively then we'll be set. Unfortunately there isn't currently a foolproof way to learn that works for all people. Different folks learn better when different things are emphasized. Some learn better in a classroom while others learn best with self-directed study (books, video recordings, etc.). If you have the luxury of trying several different methodologies for learning I would encourage you to take them as much as you can. Figuring out what works for you will be key to helping you progress and grow.
+Learning specific methodologies and technologies is not a good long-term strategy for programmers. We're better served by learning how to learn, and more importantly how we ourselves learn. That sounds simple: once we've cracked how to learn effectively then we'll be effective programmers. Unfortunately there isn't a foolproof way to learn that works for all people. Different folks learn in different ways. All of us have learning styles that work better when certain things are emphasized. Some learn better in a classroom while others learn best with self-directed study (books, video recordings, etc.). Some can read a book and be perfectly fine with understanding the material while others may need more visual approaches. If you have the luxury of trying several different methodologies for learning I encourage you to use as many as you can to figure out what works best for you. Understanding what works for you will be key to helping you progress and grow.
-For me I've found that some simple principles work best for me. The first is repetition. I learn better when I continually do something over and over again in small chunks. The second is having a small goal that I can achieve. So for me having some daily practice time on a project where I can see the end goal works best for me. When I was learning Python I enrolled in PyWeek, which is a one week game programming sprint where the theme is announced near the beginning and all programming happens during the week. For that entire week I devoted time to completing a game, and by the end of the week I'd learned more about Pygame (the library that I'd used) and Python than I had in the weeks leading up to PyWeek. Doing a one-week game jam (as they're currently called) is a bit extreme but it gave me a clear goal (a game) and a time-frame to accomplish it (one week). Over the years I've learned more about Python with various projects (both for myself and professionally) that had clear end goals.
+For me I've found that some simple principles work best for me. The first is repetition. I learn better when I do something daily, over and over again, in small chunks. The second is having a small goal that I can achieve. So for me having a daily practice time on a project where I can work toward an end goal works best for me. When I was learning Python I enrolled in PyWeek, which is a one week game programming sprint where the theme is announced near the beginning and all programming happens during the week. For that entire week I made time to complete a game, and by the end of the week I'd learned more about Pygame (the library that I'd used) and Python than I had in the weeks leading up to PyWeek. Doing a one-week game jam (as they're currently called) is a bit extreme but it gave me a clear goal (a working, finished game) and a time-frame to accomplish it (one week). Over the years I've learned more about Python with various projects (both professionally and for myself) that had daily practice and clear end goals.
-You'll need to experiment to see what works best for you. The underlying principle is that your learning process should be something that you can do for any language or concept in programming. It should also offer the least amount of resistance to your learning. Your ability to learn and be adaptable will be vital to your experience as a programmer so understanding your learning process and what works for you will help in this process.
+You'll need to experiment to see what works best for you. The underlying principle is that your learning process should be something that you can use for any language or concept in programming. It should also offer the least amount of resistance to your learning. Your ability to learn and adapt will be vital to your experience as a programmer, so understanding your learning process and what works best for you will help you in this process.
-At the very least set aside 10 minutes per day as a container (see previous chapter) for reading and learning. There's a lot of information out there and having the habit of small doses of input will help you keep up a bit. But also keep it small. A lot of information can overwhelm you into thinking that you can't possibly learn it all. You're right - you can't learn it all in one sitting. If someone told you to drink one of the Great Lakes in one sitting you'd be hard pressed to complete the task (note: please don't attempt this!). If, however, you took one glass of water and drank it for 10 minutes per day you'd start to make an appreciable dent in the water. (Sure, it might not look like much on the outside, but that's the junction where metaphors and reality break down).
+At the very least set aside 10 minutes per day as a container (see previous chapter) for focused reading and learning. There's a lot to learn in programming and creating habit of learning will help you keep up. But also keep it small. A lot of information can overwhelm you into thinking that you can't possibly learn it all. You're right -- you can't learn it all in one sitting. If someone told you to drink one of the Great Lakes in one sitting you'd be hard pressed to complete the task (note: please don't attempt this!). If, however, you filled a glass of water several times a day from one of The Great Lakes and drank it (10 minutes at a time) you'd start to make an appreciable dent in the reduction of that lake over your life-time. (Sure, it might not look like much on the outside, but that's the junction where metaphors and reality break down).
-Each day you have an opportunity to learn more about the realm of computers and computer programming. Taking a little bit each day to learn a little bit more will help you on your journey.
+Each day you have an opportunity to learn more about the realm of computers and computer programming. Taking a small part of each of those days to learn a little bit more will help you on your journey.
## How to choose what to learn
There are many opportunities to learn, whether it be via books, tutorials, videos, or computer-based training. There's also a myriad of different topics to learn. How do you decide which one is most important to learn? How do you manage what you're learning? How do you keep from getting overwhelmed with the options available?
-This gets back to focusing on one thing at a time and listening to how you best learn. One approach I would take is to think about the things that you're most passionate about right now; what excites you at this moment. If there's something that you're eager to learn start there. If nothing seems obvious then make a list of the things that you're interested in and pick from that list. If there's still nothing on that list that is really exciting you then pick one at random (roll a die or create a random-number generator - that could be a project).
+This gets back to focusing on one thing at a time and listening to how you learn best. This feedback will help you decide what to learn next. One approach is to think about the things that you're most passionate about right now; what excites you at this moment. If there's something that you're eager to learn then start there. If you have multiple things that are exciting or interesting to you then write them down on a list and see if you are more drawn to one of the topics than the others. If you're still having trouble deciding from this list then pick one at random (roll a die or create a random-number generator to select one -- that could be a project).
-This isn't about picking the most important thing (though you may have topics to learn that are more important than others in your current situation), it's about figuring out where to put your focus right now.
+If you have trouble thinking of something to learn and are struggling to come up with one item that is exciting to you then give yourself permission to browse and see what is out there. Look around and see what people are talking about. Head to a programmer meeting to see what they're talking about. Or, if you're really stuck, browse some job listings to see what employers are looking for and see if that sparks some interest.
-Once you have your focus then it's time to figure out how to proceed in learning it. If you have a preferred methodology (videos, tutorials, classes, etc.) then spend a little time (no more than an hour or so) researching what is available. Some topics have resources available for beginners that list off things that the community think might be helpful for programmers just getting started.
+This isn't about picking the most important thing or the most useful thing (though your current situation may add some urgency to certain topics over others) it's about figuring out where to put your focus right now. And we're not concerned with making the perfect choice. This exercise is about making a choice to learn something interesting and sticking with it long enough to learn more about it.
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+Once you have your topic then it's time to figure out how to focus on learning it. If you have a preferred methodology (books, videos, tutorials, classes, etc.) then spend a some time (no more than an hour or so) researching what is available. Some topics have beginner-friendly resources available that list off things that the community believes are helpful for programmers just getting started. Others may require asking questions of the community on where to start.
If you can find some resources in a short amount of time that's great! Start your learning process with those resources. Don't worry if they're the right resources or if they'll lead you down the wrong path, just start with the. Eventually you'll come back and determine if what you're looking at is or isn't going to work for you. For now we're more interested in just getting started.
projects / themediocreprogrammer.git / blobdiff