My Learning Goals for 2019

Coming into tech, I have this great urge to learn as much as I can as quickly as possible. I’m interested in a lot of things, from web applications and mobile development to ethical hacking and machine learning. I’m interested in so much but it can be a gift and a curse.

It’s believed Warren Buffett told his pilot to write a list of 25 things he wants to achieve in the next few years and to circle the 5 most important. Then he instructed the pilot to throw away the other 20 and only concentrate his time and effort on the important 5. The other 20 were to be avoided at all costs as it was a drain on valuable time and resources that could be better spent on the important 5 tasks.

I can appreciate the significance of the 5/25 rule. It’s one that I need to employ in all areas of my life.

With regards to tech, over the past 6 months I’ve found myself flitting between different topics that I want to learn without a real definitive goal. I’ll learn a bit of this, then a bit of that. This leads me to feeling that I don’t really know much at all as I’m spreading myself far too thin between all my varying interests.

This post will serve as a reminder of what is important to me for my year ahead. While the 5/25 rule applies to all aspects of one’s life, I’ll reduce the amount to 3 for tech-only topics:

1) Kotlin / Spring

My team at work use Kotlin on a daily basis. Until now I have only focussed on front-end work using React. While I really enjoy using the JavaScript framework and I enjoy feeling productive early on, I’m only getting half the development picture. Kotlin will help me explore the other half.

I have coupled Kotlin with Spring, mainly because when I first went through my team’s codebase, the parts I googled the most were spring based rather than Kotlin. Some of these googling rabbit holes also fell down the gradle and groovy paths, leading me to feel like studious Homer…

I plan to learn Kotlin on the job but also by building a rudimentary web-app in my spare time. I learn the most by doing and I have also gone through a large beginner Kotlin book without really feeling that I could produce anything of note. So, active learning it is!

2) React-Native

As noted, I have some experience with React. There’s still so much to learn, but I have enough to get by. I’ve always been interested in mobile development as you have the potential to produce something that millions of people around the world can utilise with relatively little upfront cost.

This interest was peaked when I realised the two languages my team would use are Kotlin and React which both lend themselves well to mobile development given android’s adoption of Kotlin and React-Native spinning off from React.

But what to make?! Well, I track my finances on a plain old Excel spreadsheet at the moment, but it would be great if I could update it and have all it’s functionality (it’s a chunky, colourful spreadsheet!) on the go so I can input my spending as and when they occur.

I think think this is a great starter project for me. One that can utilise my existing React knowledge while gently introducing me to the quirks of mobile development. I’m sure that the benefits will also pass into my day job as I learn to better structure my React-based code.Yes, it’s not a new idea, but it’s a tool I need and I’d rather make myself a tool that’s custom to my needs while it also provides me with a new learning experience. I may incorporate a Kotlin backend server to accommodate it.

This project has actually already begun, and I’m already quite heavily exposed to those React-Native oddities! Watch this space…

3) AWS

I mean, really I have a strong desire to do Machine Learning. But right now it’s just not the time – I have too many big things to concentrate my time on. I’ve just started a new job, I have all these things I need to learn but machine learning just doesn’t fit with them. But AWS does…!

I feel that AWS is such a significant part of tech’s present and future. Cloud computing is so powerful and the agility and cost effectiveness is game-changing. Many teams within my company use AWS’s services and I’m sure I will come across its path sooner rather than later.

In addition, I believe progress with the AWS certifications will be of great benefit to my career. I’m already interested in taking the Cloud Practitioner exam, although that may not come this year. However, I feel that it’s best for me to get exposure with everything Amazon related (prime & shopping included!).

How do I plan to learn AWS? As noted, I’ll study towards the Cloud Practitioner exam, although logistically it may not be best to sit the exam this year given other academic commitments. I also hope to deploy my Kotlin web-app at some point, even if just for personal use. This would be great to be done through AWS.

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So that’s me for 2019! What do you have planned for this year? I’d love to hear what your goals are and how you plan to accomplish them!

As ever, if you have any questions for me please don’t hesitate to reach out and I’ll try to answer them as quickly and as best as I can.

Steve