Learn, learn, learn.... then... Learn More!!!

“50% as a lecturer 50% as a consultant” this is my motto. The way I have always tried to earn a living. Nowadays, it is harder and harder to find enterprises to do consultancy. They want customers/credit, not advice. So, I rely on new start ups. I exchange advice, experience, contacts and management skills for shares. 

When you practice consultancy, you know yours earnings in advance. In entrepreneurs’ battlefield you never know. If you are lucky, you put time and effort in 10 companies and just 1 or 2 become a reality. So, I try to judge wisely which one I focus on!

Some indicators that are a red flag to me are...

“I just want to serve local customers”; “I will offer the cheapest price ever” We have already talked about these species here.

Sometimes, I find developers that want to pass from having a boss to become a boss themselves.

 “I stopped learning new programming languages long time ago”

Wow!!! And do you call yourself a programmer? It is supposed that in your training you are developed the ability to code, no matter the language. Of course, everybody has his preferences and you excel in only one or two languages, but to stop learning?

I fell in love with Java after reading and coding (Do I have to say again that in Languages, Martial Arts, Yoga and Coding 1 hour of practice is worth 1000 of theory?) the “Java how to program” by Deitel. The romance is going on, because I think that Java is the best for portals. The great Liferay is a good example!

When web scraping appears in my radar everybody was writing examples in Python. So, I added it to my toolbox. Does it have other uses? Well, when it is necessary to create a web site, sometimes a portal is like using a cannon to kill a fly. Much better to use a web framework, maybe Django is the best in Internet town (yes, yes RoR is very good as well!!!) which thanks to Jpython you can combine with Java. Then Node.js for the Real-Time web... I like to nimbly dance from one language to another. At the end of the day, I’m a consilient thinker, remember?

I think that some people choose a bad period to stop learning, to just focus on low prices or to focus on local customers.

OK! It’s up to you! I just decide where to put my time and my effort! As Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu, the famous violinists said “If you don’t practice for one day, you will notice your mistakes, if you don’t practice for two days the audience would notice your mistakes!!” That is true in Martial Arts, in Yoga, in Languages and… YES! In programming!