Ask HN: How do you keep your brain in the tonus?

[pavelshtanko]

Currently I'm working as a software developer for more than 7 years. And I'm struggling with the problem that I feel myself a bit stupid because of the routine work. Pretty much any enterprise application development process these days looks like: requirements -> tasks -> DAO -> Service layer -> models -> view models. Of course you can mention microservices, more complex architectural patterns and other things... but.. Not really harder than that.

So I want to train my brain to keep it up to date and fully functional.

What I'm doing now: - Learning vim (that's really hard after the years with Visual studio) - Trying to solve algos on Hackerrank.

What do you usually do to train yourself?

[hackermailman]

I do courses when I can, try some CS theory, some free resources here https://functionalcs.github.io/curriculum/ such as these undergraduate complexity theory lectures https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLm3J0oaFux3YL5vLXpzOy... or this intro to dbms course https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSE8ODhjZXjYutVzTeAds... then try using a SQL automated prover http://cosette.cs.washington.edu/

Some more VIM resources, Vim as an IDE https://blog.jez.io/vim-as-an-ide/

Lecture notes, entire course on vim and horrors that is vimscript http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~haoxuany/vim/

Great stackoverflow post on grokking vi to understand vim https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1218390/what-is-your-mos...

[itamarst]

Might want to consider getting a new job in a more interesting and new area, that way you can learn during work hours. Or, figure out ways to automate your job even more: if it's routine, it's amenable to automation.

More here: https://codewithoutrules.com/2016/03/15/stagnating-job/

[jventura]

As a CS professor, I have to create lots of exercises for my students so I keep my brain occupied with these kind of things, trying to simplify my examples on each iteration. I find that it is very hard but very gratifying to simplify things. Also, much easier to explain to students.

Also, when I come across algorithms such as the Sieve of Erathostenes which was discussed recently here on HN (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15408506), I do them to keep my skills and reasoning up to date..

Other times, I do some project euler problems, etc.. In even other times, if a blog post is interesting I try to implement the algorithms or examples there. For instance, there was quite recently a discussion about the little book of Operating Systems, and I've built the bootloader example and learned a little bit more about 2nd stage bootloaders and NASM Assembler.. Things like that..

I find that it is more efficient to learn lots of small things and join them with what you already know previously in your brain, than trying to learn bigger things..

[e19293001]

I would learn lambda calculus and solve the L-99: Ninety-Nine Lisp Problems[0]. You'll be surprised how brilliant functional programming is.

[0] - https://www.ic.unicamp.br/~meidanis/courses/mc336/2006s2/fun...

[taway_1212]

The "Big Data" (Hadoop etc.) stack takes years to become good at, and is a natural progression for many bored enterprise devs.

[partisan]

Learn new patterns and languages.

Learning and implementing CQRS with Event Sourcing was the big step for me out of the enterprise development slump you describe. Then learning F# and functional programming and implementing the architecture gave me insight that made my C# code simpler and easier to read.

[mactechnic]

Monotonous work dulls your wits. I find decaffinating and a moderate exercise workout with music helps. If you are pressed for time, the try meditation or a good mystery novel. Rudy Rucker has always been good for me.

[bjourne]

Quit and go back to school.