How do you maintain a competent level of programming language knowledge?

Question

I finished a Python programming course back in 2019 a long time ago and maintained the programming level well, even lectured at my university, but then I was invited to work in a company as an IT specialist, where there was more work with network and system administration.
Unfortunately, I haven't had practice in the programming language for 2 years and during these 2 years I forgot a couple of cool chips in programming, etc. So the question is, how do you maintain your programming skills in 2023?

Answer 1

How I do it
- solve coding challenges regularly (leetcode, codewars)
- read blogs and newsletters about programming
- listen to tech podcasts
- watch conference talks or other coding educational shows on Youtube
- answer Sololearn Q&A (I enjoy those the most, which prompt me to research and try some interesting language feature)
- try to use coding to build things for yourself that improve your daily life. You could try a mobile app, even in Python there are frameworks for it
- use coding in your professional life, to automate things that you used to solve manually. Python is perfect for this.

Answer 2

The best way is making projects regularly and revising the lessons you dont remember. Making projects is the best way to practise with the language

Answer 3

Hello, Amir If Python coding isn't directly relevant to your industry, it may not be the most efficient use of your time. I would prioritize practicing skills that align with your current needs. Focus on what is immediately applicable to maximize your time and effort. However, if coding is your passion, you can stay consistent by practicing for as little as 15 minutes a day. That way, you will be caught up if you change paths in the future.

Also, don't worry about revisiting anything that you don't remember. Information never really leaves you once you've learned it; if you need it again, just revise. Also, the need for coding is always evolving, so learn what is relevant at the time.

Answer 4

I wouldn't worry so much about the code per se as much as the skills used to write the code. The logic and reasoning used to organize the structure of the code.

Pick up some programming books on topics you haven't explored yet. Listen to some lectures. Bust out the old IDE and just bang out some silly stuff or crash the compiler on purpose. Fix a bug on someone's GitHub project.

Answer 5

p.s. I agree that if your industry is not related to this, so why waste time on it when there is a need to practice what you need now.