How Do I Keep Up with the Latest Technologies?

How do I keep up with the latest technologies? What are some good resources for keeping me up to date? How do I learn what to learn? These are the questions we will answer in today's episode of Dev Questions.
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[@TISINLI2]

It is very difficult to keep up with the programming technologies. Every company uses their own tech stack. In my previous job search, lots of companies wanted someone with angular background. So I leaned it at my current job. But then when I was looking for another job, angular wasn't a thing. Cloud was. How are we going to get cloud experience if we don't actually do hands-on work? Our IT director was like "watch tutorial on cloud and then once you learned it, update your resume." It's like telling someone "watch a video on how to do a brain surgery and then get out there and do it."

[@IAmTimCorey]

The good news is that you can build real applications in the cloud for free to learn how to use it. That way it is like you've done brain surgery on...well, that's going to get dark. How about we change the illustration. It's like you built a few small houses for yourself and your friends before you apply to work for a builder.

[@TISINLI2]

@@ghost_mall it's easy to say that. Try applying for few positions just for the heck of it and see what they say.

[@TISINLI2]

@@ghost_mall no worries. And you're right, you cannot keep up with every single technology unless you work on them every single day.

[@danieltkach2330]

Same thing happened to me when I started looking for a new job. Everyone was asking for stuff I did not know, because I had specialized in one technology, but it turned out there were NO JOBS for it. That's when you realize you do have to keep up!

[@horatiu2003]

Great news about the Unity content coming in the future. Keep up the amazing work!

[@IAmTimCorey]

Thanks!

[@FilipSzymaniak]

Thanks for video, some useful and valuable knowledge.

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.

[@bobpond6381]

This is a great video. I really like the levels approach. Learn a little about a lot and a lot about a little. Words to live by.

[@IAmTimCorey]

Thank you!

[@ejdut]

Anytime my confidence as a developer is low, I just need to watch one of your videos and feel good about it again. :)

[@IAmTimCorey]

Awesome! I'm glad they are encouraging.

[@faisalalhoqani6151]

Nice episode, dear Tim, keep it up.

[@IAmTimCorey]

Thank you!

[@michaelday6987]

I am about to start learning about Maui. How interesting that this video, with that shirt came out today.

[@IAmTimCorey]

Great!

[@Bugaluggit]

Thanks for the video Tim. I agree with you, takes time to become a master in a language although suicidal if you don't at least take a level 1 approach to new technologies to make sure you are still being relevent with your skillset.

[@IAmTimCorey]

Thanks for sharing!

[@gneto.r]

In the last 5~7 years feels like we got into some extreme changes in the world of technology, I really don't know if we already had something like this before but it's overwhelming how much you need to learn now to truly have some value for your team.

[@IAmTimCorey]

It has been moving fast, but part of it is all of the noise people are making around technologies that aren't ready yet or that are blown out of proportion. For instance, the blockchain. For a while, people thought that everyone had to know it and it was going to change everything. Someday it may (I have serious doubts), but while there were thousands of companies started and tons of hype around it, it didn't really change much. AI is a big leap forward and actually has some impact on industries. However, it too won't have as big of an impact as the hype machine is making it out to be. Right now we are in the gold-rush phase. When things settle down, I think we will see that there are lots of changes but they aren't as extreme as we were initially told.

[@ABMedia83]

😅😅😅😅😅

[@brianhoskins1979]

Nice advice, I enjoyed this one. I think it would have been good to include some tips about how you like to aggregate all the news around related developments so that you can keep in touch with the new things coming out. Because it's very easy to miss things that way.

[@IAmTimCorey]

That is probably a whole video unto itself, but a good one. I use Feedly to aggregate my list of blog sites that I subscribe to. That's the basics, but there is a lot more to it.

[@andywalter7426]

@@IAmTimCorey you already did a video about sites that has articles about news. if people would bother looking, then they would find it and then no need to do a separate video about it.

[@janski3791]

Hey Tim, I've been working on the field for 4+ years and by now I know little bit of this and that. Now I've been working with a in-house desktop software for 2,5 years and I'm wondering; Is it necessary to get experience of full-stack technologies and cloud platforms before getting "old"? I'm on cross-road with this problem. I really like my current job as a software developer, but is my career as a developer secured here, or should I get more relevant skills in web development also? There is a lot more jobs available for web developers than software developer it seems.

[@IAmTimCorey]

I always encourage people to keep their skills current. That may mean getting better at what you do or it may mean adding more skills to your skillset. While it would be great to have a job you love that lasts for as long as you need it to, that's not something you can count on. Think of the skill improvements as insurance, at the very least.

[@mumk]

Looking forward for Unity contents, cheers

[@IAmTimCorey]

Great!

[@angelquinones9201]

Good video

[@IAmTimCorey]

Thanks!

[@VALLANCEGAMING]

Unity is what got me into coding

[@IAmTimCorey]

Great!

[@MAHDI-oq9vl]

Hi Mr. Corey can I login to your website with a VPN to suggest or up vote the suggestion? Because my region 's IP is not allowed and website give an 403 error. 😞

[@IAmTimCorey]

A VPN is probably your best option. Sorry.

[@sivatronics]

Awesome. I takes a lot to say, "I know lot of little"

[@IAmTimCorey]

Thanks!

[@andywalter7426]

I noticed that you mentioned in the video about level 2 knowledge about chat GPT. Have you thought of trying to get to level 3 and using it to actually replace your employees. I understand enough about it to know that once it becomes advanced enough, then the only jobs left mostly will be working at mcdonalds and only minimum wage jobs. i don't think people want that to happen. only the huge corporations don't mind since they will get all the benefits.

[@IAmTimCorey]

Right now, ChatGPT (and AI in general) is in the "gold rush" phase, where people rush to start companies and install it into products to figure out what sticks. A lot will change in the next two years when it comes to AI. However, what will not change is that it is nowhere near how a human thinks. Here's an easy example - Boston Dynamics has been working on human-like walking robots for years. They now have a robot that can tentatively walk, jump, and maneuver through an obstacle course. That took YEARS of work and is an incredible feat. It is also not as capable as a healthy 8-year-old child. The human brain works so much better than any computer or AI on the planet. Self-driving cars seem great until you take them on a snowy road or into a construction zone. When doing the simple, predictable things, AI systems can seem really impressive. But that's not what knowledge workers are paid to do. They are paid to handle the messy situations in life. AI systems will make employees faster and they will allow us to do a lot more. Some companies will take that as an opportunity for less people to do the same amount of work. Other companies, though, will take a few employees and create a larger company that can hire more people because of how they use the innovation. In the end, ChatGPT/AI isn't going to replace all workers. Instead, the net result will be a gain for everyone. By the way, your suggestion that the only jobs left will be McDonald's-style jobs is actually about the opposite. People wanting cheap food and companies still wanting large profits will turn to robotics more and more for repetitive jobs that don't require decision-making. This was true when Ford implemented the assembly line, it was true when manufacturing started using robotics, and it will be true in the fast-food industry. Knowledge work is the best type of work to be in. If your actions are robotic at work, you can be replaced by a robot.

[@E_G_]

@@IAmTimCorey AI systems will make employees faster and they will allow us to do a lot more. Thumbs up for that. If you dig into AI, everybody will realize that sooner or later.

[@papafranku6472]

Unity? I want ❤

[@IAmTimCorey]

Great!

[@uppercat7268]

And I guess Tims layer 4 is just about EF.... ;)

[@kocot.]

hm, the video doesnt really answer the question from title, a bit disappointed here and the layer thing is rather obvious, there doesnt need to be any defined or sharp border but it's a quite natural approach we all have to all kind of knowledge

[@IAmTimCorey]

I'm curious what you think was missing. This is the approach I use to keep up with the technologies that I need to keep up with while not getting overwhelmed.

[@kocot.]

@@IAmTimCorey well, you talk about this arbitrary classification you came up with, you talk about some examples from your experience, but that still barely touches the topic of how one can actually keep that information flowing. For example, following your naming, how do you even get to know about new stuff for that layer 1? How do you know which of those are actually useful to dig deeper or not, how to filter noise - e.g. stacks or skills that will soon become irrelevant. Should one buy books, follow blogs or maybe just watch youtube? It's a very complex topic, but IMO nothing really practical comes out of those 14.:34min of video. Cause, yeah, it's kind of obvious we study some things just a bit, other less, and some heavily, it's how every education system works. You take computer science at university, but you'll still get pieces of physics or electronics? You can apply it at any scale, any domain and divide in as many layers as one wants.