Possibility and Probability

A Python programmer with a personality thinking about space exploration

26 January 2016

Resources for building software development skills

by nickadmin

pic of a code editor Software development is an exciting field! There’s lots of interesting work, the opportunities to work remotely are abundant, and the pay is really great too! In fact, the only major downside is that technologies change frequently and it can be a challenge to stay up-to-date on everything. What separates great developers from the rest is the their willingness to invest in themselves and learn new things. While others will wait for their boss to send them to a training class, the great ones are out there everyday looking at what’s going on and hacking in their spare time. Want to level up and become a great programmer? Here’s a list of resources that you can use to find out about new technologies and trends, places where you can actually train yourself, and finally places where you can get more in depth knowledge and assistance. These are great ways to enhance your software development skills. Let’s go!

Newsletters to rock your inbox

Go sign up for the excellent O’Reilly Programming newsletter. Seriously. Its a once-a-week newsletter about a dozen or so topics. It covers a lot of different languages and tech stacks, but its always a good quick read. It is a great way to keep your finger on the pulse of software development.  Bonus Tip: Check out the other newsletters that O’Reilly has, there’s lots of great stuff out there. I especially like the Data newsletter. BONUS bonus tip: If you are a subscriber at the end of the year, they will send you a code for a complementary (that’s free) book or video! They’ve done this the last two years, and the link takes you to a page were you can choose from 6 or 8 books or videos from their catalog, for free. Its very awesome! Python people, be sure to sign up for the Pycoder’s Weekly email. It is an awesome weekly dose of all things python. Its a great way to keep up on new trends and projects. It is a great resource to learn something new every week.

Podcasts to build skills

I’m a huge fan of podcasts. Now when I’m driving around or out for a nice walk, I can listen to some great podcasts to learn some new knowledge. The great thing about podcasts is that there are a million of them out there on thousands of different topics. I tend to listen to a lot of entrepreneur related podcasts, but one development on that I really love is Talk Python To Me. Its an hour long weekly podcast hosted by a Michael Kennedy. He’s got a great interview style and you can tell he’s a fan of the topic which makes the podcast that much more enjoyable and fun.

More Resources for building software development skills

These have been my top free resource for building software development skills. In a future post I’ll point to some more resources that are great values, but do cost a little bit of money. But don’t be scared of the cost! Think of it as investment in your self and your future!

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