4 steps to master a new technology - Java Brains

so in a recent livestream I was asked this question how do I learn a new technology how do I to start learning a new language or a new framework what's the process there well Kaushik you seem to have done a bunch of those how do you do it I started answering that person by saying that it really depends on the situation there is no one set process but as I was explaining to that person I realized that I actually without my knowledge I have created a bunch of steps that I tend to follow most of the times when learning something new so in this video I want to share the four steps that I typically take in order to learn a new technology be the language or a new framework or anything of that sort so that you can possibly benefit from it as well [Music] so the process that I follow to learn something new is always dependent on the time that I was learning the technology right so when I was in college I'm gonna share something that's probably gonna give out my age but when I was in college the internet wasn't as access of Lazarus today right we certainly didn't have internet at home and the speed of the internet was definitely not suitable for any kind of video streaming so video learning was definitely out there wasn't YouTube at the time so most of the learning that I used to do was typically just reading from a textbook right we were given a textbook and that contained all the material that we had to learn and you know it was just basically reading from beginning to end and that was the learning process and the technology that I was learning at the time be it like C or C++ was I should say suitable for that kind of learning it wasn't something that would change from month to month the problem with technologies today is that that's no longer true you cannot take a book and then to read it from end to end and then say yes I'll understand ology right because often you don't have books far the technologies you're trying to learn and if you were to spend that amount of time to learn a technology by reading a book by the time you're halfway through the book the technology has changed right the technology is a while some of the things that you that were printed in the book are no longer valid so that's not really a very useable technique for some of the technologies today so what I've ended up doing is over time I have built these four steps that I follow to learn something new that I pretty much use most of the times today when I'm learning something new all right so what are those four steps step one starts with going to the website the official website of the technology and looking for something called the QuickStart got [Music] most of the new technologies like frameworks or languages have this thing called a QuickStart guide on their website the idea is something like this you have like five minutes or ten minutes to introduce somebody new what the technology is about how do you introduce that technology to that person right most of the new frameworks that are introduced these days have this thing right so basically have a guide format there are like four or five steps to cover in order to do something right do the very minimum necessary to get your feet wet with the technology and can I get a feel for what the technology or framework is all about ok so that's typically the first thing that I do when I'm learning a new technology today ok let's say I want to learn a new framework I go to the official website first I don't look at anything else I go to the official website and I look for the presence of this QuickStart guide if there's a quick start guide I am all set right I go to that guide and I actually follow those steps so let's say I want to learn kosslyn today I want to learn Android programming for example so what I do is I go to the official website just do a google search find the official website and see if there is a QuickStart or a get started button right so click that button it'll probably be I haven't seen the cartoon website though it could be something else but it's it will probably be some very brief very short introduction to that technology right and giving you examples but it's very likely to be true with some of the newer frameworks and technologies today ok so what I do is I've not only read it I actually do the thing I actually do the QuickStart if there is something to download I'm gonna download it I follow the steps and I actually do the objective in the QuickStart so this serves a couple of purposes and I'll tell you why I do this as well so the first thing is you very quickly with very minimal investment of time and effort you kind of get a sense for what the technology is bad right it's the first thing the second thing is there is a specific advantage of doing this versus getting your information any other sources being books or video courses or YouTube videos or whatever else because the technologies these days continue to evolve so if you're looking at a book or a YouTube video you don't know then that video was made then the book was written if the steps that that video outlines is still applicable if you can really follow those steps and still have a working solution you don't know that right and being that you're new to the technology if something were to bring right if a newer version has caused some changes that causes that step that guide to break you know in that book or a YouTube video since you knew you don't know if you are doing something wrong or if it's a problem with the guide right so as somebody who is getting into a technology for the very first time you need all the help you can get you need to make sure that what were you doing has very minimal chances of failure right so that's the reason why I highly recommend when you're getting started go to the official website and look for a quick guide okay so there is a very good chance that that guide is kept up to date with newer versions so it's very unlikely that any errors are by an external factor right so if something is not working it's very likely you're doing something wrong as opposed to like a version mismatch right that's right however there is a chance that the official guide the official QuickStart itself isn't up-to-date in which case you should really be considering a choice of learning the framework or technology but sometimes you're stuck I understand that but that those situations are very rare okay that doesn't happen a lot most of the times the QuickStart guide is kept after [Music] now that you've completed the QuickStart the next thing I would recommend you do is look for some videos it could be YouTube videos it could be a course that covers a bunch of topics together in like a progression format it could be any of those look at videos and see what the mentor or the teacher is teaching you about the technology right so this is where you've got something working you're feeling good about yourself now we want to dive a little bit deeper not too deep but just a little bit deeper you want to get more exposure into this technology right a lot of YouTube videos are great for doing this right the short format they cover some content that you can use right or you can also go for courses that's something that I do as well I don't hesitate to buy courses because I like the progression format where you start from a certain stage and then you end it is there's a certain stage the instructor has started through the order in which you're supposed to learn those things so that's something that I love about a course format it's almost like you have a mentor who is walking you through that progression and I love that so that would be the next step that I follow right after the QuickStart I look at a course or a look at a bunch of YouTube videos which help me cover those things and that's something that I would recommend as well if there is a Java bring this video shameless plug here I would definitely recommend you check that out unfortunately I don't have the benefit of looking at a Java bring this video to learn something because if I don't have that knowledge it's very obvious that there isn't a Java brains video for it but any course which covers a step by step progression of your knowledge would be a very good next step from here so never be set to in the learning journey take a video course or YouTube videos to learn about the technology with someone else guiding you through the process now the video course will not cover everything that you need to know ok this might cover everything that you want to know at that present time I have had a situation recently where I had to build a plugin for the commedia SDK and for me I didn't even have to do the video course I just did the quick start I knew what I had to do to get the job done I did the job and just like it was a quick start I ended up doing a quick stuff as well I didn't have to learn more because my job was done I'm not gonna be touching that SDK again that's it right end of story so that could be you you could say okay this is enough for me to learn to get the job done are you could go to the next step and say I'm gonna do a course and with the course I have enough knowledge to get the job done I'm done okay but if you want to work for a longer period of time if your career is dependent on your knowledge of that technology then a video course is probably not enough a video course typically does not cover all the details and I say that as somebody who makes video courses a video course is not supposed to cover all the details right if a course covers everything then that course will never end so you have a fair idea of the breadth of the technology by doing a video course but in order to dive deep and get expertise on that not on the technology you have to pick a book you have to pick a book which covers end to end what the technology can do what are the features of the technology the framework of the language and how we can effectively use it a lot of work goes into writing a book and typically books are very much in that right they cover the topic in depth so that would be the next step step three of learning a new framework or a language pick a good book and read it and just like with the videos what I typically do is not follow everything end to end because that can take a lot of time I get it just for what the book is trying to convey I don't follow the exercises virtually doing it but I make sure I understand the code examples that are covered in the book so that I can later use the book for reference and then implement it when the need arises but I do make sure that I cannot get a get an overalls and for what the book is trying to say and specifically dive deep into the areas that I am interested in [Music] okay so now we have done with the book and you have a sense for the details or at least you know they're to get the details when you're needed the fourth and final step that you should do it there's a fourth step that I typically do when I'm learning a new technology is to build something with it right build a project with that technology fits a framework build an application with the framework if it's a language does an application with that language so this is where I'm actually writing code and doing something on my own which is different from the exercises in the QuickStart or the video or the book doing those exercises is going to give you a feel for how to work with that framework or language and you also would have run into some common issues some common errors that you typically run into when working on the technology so this is where you go get your hands dirty and build something from the scratch okay this is also very kind of get an objective look for what an application looks like both in the technology so let's say you get a job and you're working on the technology in your work most of the times the application that you're building at work is not just using that particular technology it's using a bunch more technologies and it's kinda like the core base is like a mix of all those different things put together so it's hard for you to kind of isolate and learn from the code because you have to learn bunch more to make sense for like one piece of code right it's using like technology and technology be you kind of need that help that you can take the technology that you're interested in in isolation learn that thing alone so that you're not influenced by some of the other things that are going on right you don't have that burden of trying to learn a bunch more stuff so that's where building an application on your own is super helpful you get to control what are the technologies you're working on so you have a say in how your application turns out right and since you're starting from the scratch you add on to it step by step so that cognitive load is a little e here to handle so you not overwhelmed by a whole bunch of Technology decisions that's been made for you you get to make those step-by-step so it's easier for you to follow so there's a fourth step that I take when I'm really committed to the technology right I know that I'm gonna be working on this thing for the next two years or three years this is what I do to kind of get myself comfortable with it to develop that expertise at work on an application again these four steps are not mandatory okay I recommend the order because this is kind of like a good progression I've put some thought into why I progress in this way because you know you kind of get more and more exposed to the intricacies of that technology or a framework but you don't have to do all those steps like I said just a quick start could be enough to solve your problem in which case you just do the quick start and you move on are just watching a course is good enough to solve your problem in which case you do that but again if you're if you know that you're gonna be working on a technology for a longer period of time there's no reason to not dive deep and develop that expertise so these are the four steps that I personally follow to get that expertise on any framework or technology hope this was helpful in your journey to learn something new [Music]

Channel: Java Brains

Views: 75,994

Rating: 4.9464831 out of 5

Keywords: java, java brains, tutorial, brains, koushik, kaushik, brainbytes, explained, java tutorial, learn java, java tutorial for beginners, java programming tutorial, java programming, java programming for beginners, programming, koushik kothagal, beginner, java training

Id: tcW13YfNemw

Length: 15min 13sec (913 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 17 2020