5 Perks of Continued Learning for Developers

5 Perks of Continued Learning for Developers

The great American tennis player Arthur Ashe once said, "Success is a journey, not a destination." So whether it's an athletic pursuit, a relationship, or a career, our work is never truly done. The moment we decide we've already arrived, we're in trouble. Continued learning for developers is critical to combatting that sense of stagnancy and comfort. Here are five awesome perks of continued learning for those looking to train as a web developer as well as those who have done their initial training already.

1.) Shared Vocabulary

Developers are the lifeblood of any web development business. While much of our own team comes to us from the tech world and jobs at places like Apple, that isn't the story for all of our team members. When a team has disparate learning backgrounds, the value of getting everyone on the same page really can’t be overstated.

The larger a team, the more imperative a cohesive language becomes. There's an immense level of value in being able to put a name to a concept that you know your team is familiar with, but which you didn't previously have the language to directly reference in communications. Being able, for instance, to say to a teammate, “What if you used an XYZ pattern there?” and not have to waste time explaining what that means is great for productivity. Especially when things are really flowing, this conceptual shorthand allows everyone to keep rolling on an idea without having to step back and research the concept.


"We hire for ambition. If you have the drive, we can teach true talent in development." — Joe Chekanoff, CEO Chek Creative

Of course you need some coding experience, but sometimes a heavy workload and the permission to give it a shot is all folks need to hit the next level. A "less experienced" new hire may very well bring a powerful new perspective to the table.


2.) Overlapping Workload Coverage

When you train as a web developer, you'll likely encounter a concept called "ensemble programming." The idea is that Person X can’t know everything, but if others in X's group have overlapping understanding where X lacks it (and vice-versa), the overall group effort will be more successful at heading off conceptual mistakes before those mistakes make it into code.

Group web developer training is much like ensemble programming. When a group of devs with diverse backgrounds openly discusses a lesson they've gone through, the likelihood of each individual retaining more useful information essentially skyrockets.

This approach can also directly benefit real life workflow. For instance, we have our developers work together on projects. Not only does it increase productivity and quality (Check out 10 Strong Digital Tools to Support Agencies for how to ensure multiple sets of eyes get on every line of code with GitHub pull requests), but this way, everyone gets a chance to see how their teammates react to different scenarios. Rookie developers get the benefit of being in the trenches with seasoned vets, while more experienced developers get exposed to fresh perspectives.

In the vein of internal transparency, it can be very helpful to track, document, and standardize your digital studio's processes. This is especially helpful when, for instance, you have five developers working on the same mobile app—each of whom needs to know what's been done already. It also certainly comes in handy when onboarding a new team member. Along with their other hands-on training, new employees will have the opportunity to study your coding processes from past and current projects.

3.) New Skills (Duh)!

We can't ignore the most obvious perk of continued learning for development: direct knowledge! The more everybody knows, the more effective and efficient your team can be.

4.) External Expertise

Sometimes we all get stuck in our own bubbles. This can happen in friend groups, politics, ... you name it. And it can certainly happen in web development.

Expert courses can be phenomenal for combatting this, as devs get to see how some of the best in the business handle workflow and attack issues. Observing the workflow of a couple of industry experts can be tangentially beneficial in any number of small, even subconscious ways.


"A balance of self-paced and structured courses makes for an awesome, continuous development trajectory." — Joe Chekanoff


5.) Workflow / Code Organization

No matter what continuous training we participate in, integration is required for actual impact.

Before jumping back into regular tasks after a continued learning opportunity, it's important to take time to reflect on one's own thought process, code organization, etc. Is there anywhere your personal or team web development best practices can be updated?

For example, our devs totally revamped our typical file structure after taking The Joy of React course by Josh Comeau. Seeing how he usually approaches structure inspired a substantial continued learning integration!

High-level continuous training courses are so much better for picking up useful tidbits than just, say, watching a Youtube video, or even a one-off seminar or less intensive course.

Ready to Dive Into Continuous Learning?

Generally speaking, but especially in the world of web development, there is ALWAYS something new on the horizon. Empowering your team with the time and continuous learning resources to get excited about that can be unbelievably powerful.

Web development best practices should come from a combination of solid initial web developer training and continued learning. As always, please reach out with questions or comments on continuous training in the web development world. You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, or shoot us an email!

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