Eric Farkas

I've started to think about and plan how I will improve my development skills in 2013. My goals are:

• Deepen my knowledge of the Ruby language

• Learn CoffeeScript

• Become familiar with database technologies other than MySQL, especially MongoDB

• Consistently write about what I am learning, whether it's simple or not

• Write a Ruby driver for NSQ

I will achieve my goals in this manner:

• Read CoffeeScript: Accelerated JavaScript Development by Trevor Burnham (160 pages)

• Read Programming Ruby 1.9 (3rd edition): The Pragmatic Programmers' Guide by Dave Thomas, with Chad Fowler and Andy Hunt (944 pages)

• Read Eloquent Ruby by Russ Olsen (448 pages)

• Read Metaprogramming Ruby: Program Like the Ruby Pros by Paolo Perrotta (296 pages)

• Read Seven Databases in Seven Weeks by Eric Redmond and Jim R. Wilson (352 pages)

• Read MongoDB: The Definitive Guide by Kristina Chodorow and Michael Dirolf (216 pages)

• Read and thoroughly understand the code behind one of EventMachine, Thin, Sinatra, MongoMapper or Rack, then write about it.

• Read Seven Languages In Seven Weeks by Bruce A. Tate (328 pages)

That's approximately 2200 pages (Programming Ruby is 944 pages but the second half of the book is language reference which I won't be "reading"). So 2200/365 is approximately 6 pages a day, or 42 pages a week. Some of the books I am reading will cover material I am already familiar with, but I personally find it helpful to consistently review the basics.

I will post my progress here. In the past I have been embarrassed to write about the things I am learning because I feel others have said it better already, and perhaps I'm posting about things I should have known already. But that is a counterproductive mindset to have. First of all, it betrays a conceit that anyone actually reads these posts in the first place. Secondly, it keeps me from engaging in what is one of the best ways to complete the learning experience, and that is to write about it and teach others.

I'm looking forward to firming up the knowledge I already have, and getting deeper into Ruby, the language I have come to love. I'm also excited about digging into an open source project that I have used and admire, and learning from the masters.