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How do I identify the core things to learn when picking up a new tech stack?

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Entry-Level Software Engineer [SEP] at JPMorgan Chase2 years ago

How can we identify what are the core in-demand "Legos", especially in the context of what we do commonly on our day to day job?

As software engineers, we are tackled with new things to build regularly, so I was wondering how I could focus on the components (i.e. "Legos") that are built more regularly and learn to build them with high-quality.

I don't have a concrete need for this right now, but I want to be more efficient at work and keep this in mind for when I do get into a new technology. As a web dev, a core in-demand Lego will be like responsive design or something like that right?

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    Tech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course Hero
    2 years ago
    • When working at a new stack at a company, here are some tactics:
      • Look at code reviews within that space and extract common themes. Code reviews are powerful as they also teach you the common mistakes made within this field
      • Read the core code components
      • Ask engineers in that space what to learn
    • When just trying to pick up a new stack in isolation (e.g. "I want to switch into Android), the most powerful thing you can do is look for patterns as a consumer. This is trickier for things more on the infra side (e.g. ML and Big Data), but if you're working on a front-end stack (web, Android, iOS), you use apps and websites everyday! Just keep an eye out for common UI components that the best, modern products use.
    • Responsive design is very much a core lego for web. Other examples of core legos are making an API call, parsing a JSON model, and rendering a list of items.

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