from Hacker News

Ask HN: What did you learn this year?

by amin on 12/27/23, 4:26 AM with 8 comments

• by horeszko on 12/27/23, 5:04 AM

  Technical:

  - I started using Linux this year after switching from Windows. I've learnt a lot about system admin and how operating systems work but still have a long away to go

  - I've started to formalize my programming knowledge by self studying 'Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs'. I try to do most of the exercises. Its a tough book but well worth it and it has really crystallized my knowledge of programming

  - I've also started learning the basics of networking

  Non-technical:

  - I've learnt that my job (as a dev) is not as technical or as interesting as I always hoped, and thats okay. I've learned to channel my technical interests through my side projects and let work be work

  - I've learnt to relax and to not stress out about learning programming/computer related things. I switched to a career in software development after working as a manufacturing engineer and always thought I had to "catch up". However I realized I'm not actually that far behind as computing is a deep field and imo is best learned hands on, which from what I can tell university's don't do. I thought a CS degree from a university is what I missed out on, but I've proven to myself that I can teach myself better than a university can (I have a degree in industrial engineering and imo the university I went to was low quality and the experience there lowered my opinion of universities). So I do my side projects and self studies and I stay patient knowing that I'm really in the same place as a someone who studied CS. I self study the theoretical knowledge and apply it in my side projects

• by nicbou on 12/27/23, 11:24 PM

  I learned what networking really means, and how valuable it is. There is an insanely complex informal underground economy that you can't see or know about until you are part of it.

  A lot of good things happen just by being part of that flow of communication and favours.

• by NukedOne on 12/27/23, 8:53 AM

  This was a year of implementing programming languages for me, mostly. I saw up close how a series of layers (or languages, if you will, that are mutually defined by virtual machines at the same level) on top of machine code (which is numeric and hence difficult for humans to use), each one more convenient than its predecessor, leads to bridging the gap between what is convenient for machines and what for humans.

• by biglyburrito on 12/27/23, 5:54 AM

  Technical:

  - First time working in an Azure cloud environment; I've worked with AWS & GCP at previous jobs.

  - First time working with async messaging / event-driven architecture (Azure service bus & triggers); previous jobs had been averse to using it & reliant primarily on REST APIs.

• by Jugurtha on 12/27/23, 11:19 PM

  Mainly "law". Code of civil procedure & code of criminal procedure, and labor law.

• by berniedurfee on 12/27/23, 2:28 PM

  PHP