How to learn a new technology?
A lot of people talk about how to learn a new technology for what you will face in real life — in a real job. Buying a course on Udemy, watching videos on Youtube and searching for tutorials on Google are very popular solutions.
Learning a new language, a new framework, or even a new library is almost always very tough, especially when theory and practice are side by side. This generates a lot of frustration.
When I am in this situation, I have my own way to learning. And that is what I would like to share today as an attempt to help more people.
Practice over theory
When facing the challenge of having to learn something new, I always prioritize practice over theory.
I see many people focusing on theory, consuming tons of theoretical content, but not trying to put it into practice. It is only when you are actually doing something real that you will realize the difficulties and questions. Overcoming them, knowledge comes.
It is necessary to have a theoretical foundation, of course, especially if you have no knowledge about it. What I want to say is is: don’t get stuck in theory forever.
When I want to learn something new from the beginning, I read/watch/listen some initial theoretical content (usually following a roadmap) and then dive into practice.
Roadmaps are excellent ways to learn by following a linear flow. Here’s a list of some roadmaps:
During the practice, I get new theoretical knowledge in parallel as I need, according to situations that require it. This way, practice and theory will building at same time, which is super efficient.
Practise is not testing!
Beware! Practise is not test what you are learning.
Practicing is committing to using it in a way that has purpose, objective and value.
In the software development universe, the best way to practice is by creating projects that have value. Be creative and build something real!
That’s my advice.
Let me give you an example. When I wanted to learn React Native to build mobile apps, I read some initial content and then immediately started practicing by building something that challenged me and had value. I built an app that consumes the Spotify API and shows some interesting statistics and made it available to download.
Don’t have any ideas about what to buid? I strongly suggest you explore your creativity even more. Look for inspiration on the web and try to come up with something.
If you still do not have any idea, or if you are not feeling very creative, here is a list of ideas you can explore:
I also have another artice that lists some cool APIs available for you to consume and build something creative.
That’s what I had to share. I hope you enjoyed the text and that it somehow added something.
If you’ve enjoyed, consider buying me a coffee as a token of appreciation.
Thank you!
