Elixir: The Study map

Since September 2022, I've been studying and practicing the Elixir programming language. In this post, I will share my approach to learning this new language.

This is the way

Learning a new language is a subjective and personal experience, and I will share my approach so that you can have a baseline or even compare it with your own. There is no "right way" to do it.

1. Create a map: In this step, I conducted online research to find references that I could use to learn Elixir. I categorized these references according to their depth and level of difficulty using numbers (1 for basic/beginner and 2 for something specific/intermediate).
2. Use one reference at a time: For example, I began reading "Learn Functional Programming with Elixir" by Ulisses Almeida and avoided reading other books until I finished it.
3. Practice, practice: Nowadays, this step is easy because we have amazing content, and most of it is free. However, the difficult part is to stay focused.

The challenges

I faced several challenges during my journey to learn Elixir:

• Focus: Learning a new language is like building a house. Focus on the language's foundation because a good foundation helps you learn more advanced topics naturally.
• Balancing theory and practice: It is easy to get lost in theory without applying what you have learned to practice. Conversely, it is also easy to jump straight into building projects without fully understanding the underlying theory. Finding a balance between the two is key to mastering a new language.
• Overcoming frustration: Learning a new language can be frustrating, especially when faced with errors and bugs that you do not know how to fix. Remember that this is a normal part of the learning process and keep pushing forward.

Here is the Notion page with the study map: Elixir Study Map

Comments

[Travis Fantina]

I'm curious how far though this you are. Do you find that you stick to the full curriculum or do you peel off at some point?

For me, I don't think I've ever finished a personal curriculum. I don't think I've even finished a single programming resource. I tend to work through until I get some proficiency then I start building my own projects. "This is the way" - for me at least.