For me; software development started as a hobby at the age of about 12, thumbing through my sister’s GCSE computing homework and hacking together Pascal programs with one of my friends. This then lead to developing websites for various bands I was in, and eventually to learning Java and .Net throughout university and out into the Big Wide World. Throughout all this time I’ve always been stumped by the question: “What’s next?”

When I worked in Professional Services, this question was driven by whichever project I was working on next. This predicated all the technology stack, the timescales, and any pre-sales work or presentations I’d have to work on for the next client. Moving into in-house software development I was often provided with ample slack during which I’d read up on patterns and frameworks (GoF, different communication frameworks etc). But as I’ve moved between different companies; the learning emphasis has shifted somewhat.

Instead of simply up-skilling on different coding paradigms and patterns, there feels to be more of a focus on dev-ops and integration concerns. What scripting language do you use for build tasks? How do you reduce your build time to ensure your pipeline doesn’t get congested? How do you negotiate releases across teams so as to manage dependencies?

Whereas I used to return home and spend more time developing pet projects in order to “write more codez” and subsequently sharpen my tools; now I find myself increasingly more burnt-out by the daily melee, and wondering if there’s “something more to be done”.

When do you stop learning?