The importance of following a technological watch

One of the faults that many developers have is not keeping up to date, not having effective and sufficient technological monitoring. However, as we will see, following a technological watch when you are a developer is more than important, it is essential!

So why, how and where to find your watch sources? This is what we will see in this article.

The importance of following a technological watch

As I said, having an effective techno watch when you are a developer is essential. There are several reasons for this.

Find (or change) a job or assignments

Already, in terms of employment, it is important to know about Stardew Valley Fighter or Scout. Whether you are looking for or want to change business, you will need to prove that you are up to date and able to work on the latest technologies.

And it is even more important if you are a freelance and chain the missions.

If you exaggerate, you can imagine that we are no longer looking for a lot of Cobol developers … On the other hand, recent technos like Flutter or React Native are in trend.

So, if you want to be a rare gem and have more choice, leverage (especially on your salary), updating yourself at the technological level is extremely important.

Make decisions, move towards more responsibilities

Another reason why being technically up to date is essential is to be able to make decisions related to technology , and to evolve professionally in this field.

For example, you are employed in a company, or start a new assignment. As a dev, you are asked for your opinion on choosing the techno to use to develop the next app… If you want to get involved in these kinds of decisions, it is obvious that you have to know the latest evolutions and trendy technos.

Likewise, if you want to move on to a cto or software architect position , you will need to know what’s new at your fingertips.

Be able to hold tech conversations with other developers

A final point that I would like to mention here, which may seem more trivial but which is nevertheless important, is to be able to hold conversations on tech subjects with other developers.

It’s always good to take part in a conversation about, say, a new JavaScript framework (one more?) That just came out, with your colleagues. Not only is this important socially speaking , but you will also be able to show your colleagues that you are otherwise interested, an expert in the field .

How to have an efficient techno watch?

Now that we know why it is important to have a technological watch, let’s see how to make it effective .

Choose the techs for your watch

Already, how to choose the techktimes to carry out its watch?

Well, it will depend. Already, from your domain . If you’re a front-end developer , of course it makes sense to keep up to date with the latest in React or Vue.js , for example. If you are a mobile developer, not only can you continue to train on React Native if it’s your techno, but you will also have to keep an eye on Flutter.

Then it will depend on where you want to go . It is indeed interesting to take into consideration your desires for career development. If you are a back-end developer but are interested in the front-end, you will need to be interested in the different technologies, frameworks, etc. ; and vice versa. That is to say, self-train, keep a watch , to be able, when the time comes, to switch to this type of development.

Finally, to help you choose which technologies to direct, learn and on which to stay up to date, you can ask for advice from colleagues or acquaintances who are tech savvy, and may be able to guide you on your choices.

Spend some time there regularly

The other advice I can give, for your technology watch to be effective, is to spend a little time there regularly . The idea is not to spend a full weekend there once every six months, but rather a few hours every two weeks, for example.

Indeed, even if new frameworks do not come out every week (whatever…), those that exist publish updates regularly, whether small or large.

If you want to keep up to date on several different tech, then it’s ideal to spend some time there on a regular basis. Because, it is obvious, you will not manage to assimilate six months of update in one or two days .

Resources for an efficient techno watch

You know why to keep up to date, and how to do it effectively. But where do you get the right information? Because, in fact, to have an effective watch, the sources are as important as the methods.

Content aggregation

One of the simplest systems to keep up to date is to aggregate content in one place . This will save you from having to open twelve Chrome tabs (I’m sure you already have at least that many like Classic Cast Bars) to get some new info on your favorite tech.

Aggregating them in the same place, on the same web page, is ideal. And for that, there is in particular. Typically, if you are a web developer, this site allows you to put a bunch of sites that share web development news in one place, and see all the latest news in one place. Convenient !

Feedly has a free version, which allows you to authorize 100 different sources, in three different feeds.

Twitter

If we leave the framework of the aggregation of content to go more in depth in the techno watch, we can start by quoting Twitter.

Twitter is underrated when it comes to technology tracking. However, not only do most technicians have official accounts and share guides and novelties there, but the network also allows you to follow known and recognized developers, who themselves share their creations, their tips, etc.

Youtube

YouTube is also an excellent source of technology watch. Already, via channels , you can follow tutorials, sometimes several hours long, on tech.

But also, you can follow independent developers, like Benjamin Code or Free Developer who both talk about tech, but also – and this is important, the status and life of developer and freelance.

Physical events

Another way to keep up to date is to attend physical events . There are indeed events that are organized to talk about tech, and this almost everywhere in France.

Typically, using the Meetup site is highly recommended . Many events are organized there, sometimes by passionate developers, but often by companies who hope to recruit during these events (but the interventions remain interesting, and they often offer pizzas!).

But there are also “festivals” over several days, with conferences, especially on new technologies. We can cite for example the techktimes.com , in Nantes.

Online communities

Finally, the last element I will mention here is the developer communities. As I discuss in , there are indeed several online developer communities. Present as well on Slack, Discord or Telegram , these support communities exchange a lot on the novelties , with feedback, which is very important to guide you in your choices.

As we have seen, it is important to keep up to date technically speaking, and for several different reasons. Doing it effectively is essential, otherwise doing the day before will lose its interest. And finally, there are multiple sources for self-training on the latest technologies. Obviously, I don’t recommend using them all; it would be time consuming and redundant. You can choose, for example, to use Feedly and YouTube.

Finally, my last advice on Stardew Valley Rancher or Tiller would be the following: you too could participate in this technological watch. You could, for example, create a blog on a particular topic, open a YouTube channel, etc. Not only will this force you to stay up to date, but it will also help other developers to have effective technology watch as well!