Catching up with technology
How can you catch up with all the technology?
When I apply for junior software developer, they require so many things such as CI/CD, cloud computing, Docker, etc. It’s so overwhelming
Ben Podgursky - January 24 Senior data engineer
Take a breath. Make three lists: The three buckets of knowledge
- The technology you know how to use, with minimal research (ex:
I know how to set up a CI/CD pipeline) - The technology whose place in a company’s infrastructure you know (ex:
I know when and why companies use Docker. But I have not written a Dockerfile) - The technology which you’ve heard of, but have no idea what it is (ex:
I have heard of Kubernetes but have no idea why I'd use it)
List (1) is your comfort zone. It’s what you put at the top of your resume, it’s what brings home the bacon. Strive to add things to this list maybe one a month, or one a quarter, depending on how big the tickets are (ex, Learn Java)
List (2) this is just as important. This list is how you communicate and make architectural decisions. You can’t weigh the tradeoffs of moving to a serverless architecture if you don’t know what it means. But if you know why you’d use a Lambda, you can talk about Lambdas.
List (3) is what scares you. And it should list (3) conversations are the ones where you feel like a toddler dropped in the deep end.
How do you get past the point of overwhelmed? Easy spend an hour a day moving technologies from list (3) to list (2)
Trust me. Seriously. None oF the technologies you listed are complicated. You can learn to set up a simple CI/CD build in an afternoon. You can walk through a Dockerfile in an afternoon. You won't be an expert but you'll be able to talk about Docker.
The more pieces fall into place, the easier it will be to pick up new parts and fit them into your mental model. Once you understand Docker, you’ll understand the value of Kubernetes. Once you understand why a company moves to Kubernetes, you’ll understand the value of Knative.
Nobody, no matter how impressive their GitHub profile looks, is an expert at the entire modern development stack. The best-of-the-best developers simply understand the lay of the land - they have an idea why and how to use a tool. And they’ll learn the nuts and bolts - when necessary.
Take a breath and read about one tool at a time - one each evening. You’ll be surprised how quickly the pieces start coming together.