Spiral
How does one get to learn computer technologies and become more technically competent? There are basically 4 main methods you can use to achieve such a goal. Here they are.
Trial and Error
If you ask a hacker or a hard core programmer how to learn or become a whiz in programming, he’ll tell you “trial and error, that’s all what it takes.”
Courses
Courses are the foundation. They give you a sound background and a push ahead. They motivate you. They can also serve as an accelerated way to learn. Courses would usually take you through the first steps but will not take you deep into an advanced level.
Books
Books are excellent. While you might spend hours and days trying to figure things out using just trial and error, books can save you a lot of time by telling you how things are done and how things work right from the start. Also books give you a balanced and many times comprehensive covering of the technology being covered. When you’ve taken many bites of information from here and there using trial and error and from friends, books will fill in the gaps and give you a more complete view.
Friends
Yeh. This method you cannot do without. It’s the fastest, most outreaching and most fun way to learn. You simply cannot do without it. Having a constant group of friends who are more technically savvy or even as equal as yourself around you will help you thrive in the techno field, keep its beat and remain updated and also in balance. It also helps when you’re just starting and taking your first step on the road.
Those are the main 4 methods one uses to gain technical competency when it comes to programming and computers in general. For a really competent techno whiz no one method of those 4 is enough, he/she must use them all to gain top gear. Yet, not all of them can be used at the same time, or else they will not work. But one has to alternate between them then go back to the first one and alternate to the others and so on in a continuous upward spiral.