# Effective Learning Strategies for Programmers

DevFeed: [Effective Learning Strategies for Programmers](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/effective-learning-strategies-for-programmers-29448.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<http://akaptur.github.com/blog/2015/10/10/effective-learning-strategies-for-programmers/>)

Published: 2015-10-10T22:15:00Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [Allison Kaptur](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/allison-kaptur.md>)

Topics: [Learning](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/learning.md>), [Programming](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/programming.md>)

Tags: [effective](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/effective.md>), [learning](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/learning.md>), [programming](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/programming.md>), [research](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/research.md>), [skills](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/skills.md>), [strategies](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/strategies.md>)

## AI overview

An article about effective learning for programmers, presented as an edited transcript of a Kiwi PyCon keynote. It introduces mindset and learning strategies, drawing on experiences at the Recurse Center and research on effective learning.

## Source excerpt

In early September I gave a keynote at Kiwi PyCon in New Zealand on effective learning for programmers. There were two pieces to the talk: one about mindset, and one about particular strategies we can use. The text below is an aspirational and lightly edited transcript of the mindset piece of that talk. There's also a video available if you'd like to see the strategies piece. Recurse Center Before I joined Dropbox last year, I spent two years working at a company in NYC called the Recurse Center. The Recurse Center is like a writers' retreat for programmers. Participants spend 3 months working on whatever is most interesting to them. So someone who'd been writing Java for ten years might come to RC to learn a new language like Clojure, or someone who just graduated with a CS degree might come work on their web development skills, or someone who'd been learning programming in their spare time might come to turbo-charge their learning. There's almost no structure to the program - no deadlines, no assignments, no teaching. It's an experiment in unstructured learning for adults. My role as a facilitator was to help people make the most of that disorienting amount of freedom that they had at RC. People who come out of traditional educational experiences or traditional jobs very often don't know what to do with that. So I'd help them with goal-setting and help them make the most of the experience. One of the things we thought a lot about was how to have the most effective learning experience possible for programmers. Today I'll talk about some of the research into how to be an effective learner, and how we can apply that research to our daily lives as programmers and engineers. What to get out of this post Take a minute and consider what you'd like to get out of this post. You might want to learn something new about how to be as efficient and effective in your job as possible. You might want to hear about how you can be a better teacher or mentor to junior engineers. Or y