There are a lot of technologies, out there and for every needs: programming languages, softwares, operating systems, etc... But what if you wanted to learn a new technology? Because of any reason? In this post, we will see how I learned a new technology to give you an idea of how to start.

Why

It's a fact: some technologies are better for doing things that other ones can't do better and vice versa. While some technologies can be the same, there are differences that can lead to change to another one.

Programming languages for example are a matter of syntax, performance and community while softwares are used for their usefulness or design; and operating systems are for what they can do (Windows has Active directory, Linux has full customisation, etc...).

Jobs offers can also be a great reason of why to learn a technology.

However, what makes me learn a technology is mostly the hype. I know that most peoples thinks that following the trend isn't a great thing but who know? Go was just a trend and becomes one of the most used programming languages and the same thing applied for the BlockChain. It's just a matter of wanting to learn this technology because it's popular, if it's popular it's certainly a good one.

How

The tech's documentation will become your life, tutorials and forums too. There is not really a good way to learn something, it depends on your determination and how you learn better.

Books are the first choice for most peoples. Personnally, doing little projects for fun is how I learn a technology but it keeps me away from the theorical side.

What did I learned?

The technology I chosen to learn was the Crystal programming language. Why? Because it's a trend and have the Ruby's syntax. Also, I recently started to learn how to use Arch Linux, totally for fun.

The fact is that I don't want to stay in one technology, which is boring in the long term. I want to discover things everyday because of my curiosity.

Conclusion

Maybe that after this post you will start learning a new technology, for any good reason. Or maybe that you will create something that other people will learn because it's a fantastic idea.

Discovering new things and making the world evolve is something that moves us and needs to continue like that.

And you: how and why do you started learning something?