Thank you for this post! I wholeheartedly relate to that feeling of incompleteness. I would add to that a feeling of not knowing (or even not being) enough. The worst is when I think, "If I had just studied {insert topic} previously, I could..."
On the other hand, I have noticed that there are certain topics that I have studied that have produced greater returns than others. For example, learning about the principles of Object-Oriented Programming has helped me in a lot of situations, whereas learning about some specific .NET technology has helped me get a job done but not been applicable to many other things.
I am trying out a hybrid approach where I learn what I need in the moment (e.g. a specific technology) AND when I can make time, add to my toolbelt by studying topics that apply broadly (e.g. reading a book about design principles). The second part seems hard to justify as a purely JIT exercise, but I believe is long-term more important to my growth as a developer.
Absolutely! Always prefer learning fundamentals (rarely grow old) before specialized frameworks (often grow old). Just-in-time learning applies to both, although fundamentals are best learned at a calm pace without external pressure to grasp a thing.
Thank you for this post! I wholeheartedly relate to that feeling of incompleteness. I would add to that a feeling of not knowing (or even not being) enough. The worst is when I think, "If I had just studied {insert topic} previously, I could..."
On the other hand, I have noticed that there are certain topics that I have studied that have produced greater returns than others. For example, learning about the principles of Object-Oriented Programming has helped me in a lot of situations, whereas learning about some specific .NET technology has helped me get a job done but not been applicable to many other things.
I am trying out a hybrid approach where I learn what I need in the moment (e.g. a specific technology) AND when I can make time, add to my toolbelt by studying topics that apply broadly (e.g. reading a book about design principles). The second part seems hard to justify as a purely JIT exercise, but I believe is long-term more important to my growth as a developer.
Absolutely! Always prefer learning fundamentals (rarely grow old) before specialized frameworks (often grow old). Just-in-time learning applies to both, although fundamentals are best learned at a calm pace without external pressure to grasp a thing.
Agreed! Thank you again for sharing your insights. This was something that I needed to hear.