Developing with Intention

One of the things I've overlooked while learning software engineering in the past and up until recently is the incredible usefulness of maintaining systematic inventory of my knowledge. I realized this (quite painfully!) after diving back into programming after a 2-year hiatus. In short, my concern is with being able to answer with certainty: What do I know?

In designing my knowledge-tracking system, I'm still experimenting with finding the platform that works best for me, whether online, handwritten, or a combination of the two. But at this point, I'm not allowing the format to become a distraction or constraint. I've accepted that the "best" format is the one that allows me to unload the mental struggle of trying to keep track of all this information.

Here are the main areas I am tracking so that I learn and develop with intention:

• Discovering - These are new concepts and terms I have either actively or passively encountered through lessons, assignments, YouTube videos or elsewhere, which require me to dig deeper to properly grasp. I simply make a note of them for my upcoming study sessions.
• Understanding - These are concepts I often pull from the above. At any given time, there should not be too many concepts or terms in this category or else I am risking information overload. Each of these will likely require me to invest numerous hours in developing an app with them. I will also search sites like LeetCode for learning them through problem solving.
• Learned - If I can correctly use and explain a concept or term, I consider that I have reached a proficient level in it and track it here. Keeping track of this helps me stay motivated and encouraged in my learning when I see how far along I’ve come... and to avoid the dreaded imposter's syndrome!
• Toolkit - These are my code snippets, recipes, and common refactoring patterns. This is all code that I understand but tend to come back to when considering how to solve certain problems.