Ask HN: What are you learning right now? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What are you learning right now?

29 pointsbrickmort38 comments

I have been learning about mapping. Using leafletjs to incorporate mapping elements in web applications. Building check-in operations based on current location, placing markers/icons and modifying the icon color to represent data values and making it easy for users to contribute location data that is currently missing from the data set.

I am also exploring options for efficiently storing sparse matrix data, doing automated statistical distance/similarity analysis and storing all-to-all distance measures back into a database.

I'm a Python programmer but I have some familiarity with Java, but I haven't really touched Java in over five years, so I've been refreshing my mind with the recent Java 8 docs and it's been a pretty fun experience so far.

I'm spending a lot of my free with Erlang and Elixir, a Ruby-syntax inspired language that runs on the same VM as Erlang. I'm enjoying Elixir a lot and finding it adds some clarity to the little things I'm writing with it.

I'm learning how to be better. I started reading Farnam Street about two months ago, and picked up Ryan Holiday's The Obstacle is the Way two weeks ago. Meditations: A New Translation and Thinking Fast and Slow are on their way. I'm facing not a crisis of self, but a realization that I am at a point where in order to move forward, and achieve what I want to achieve, I have some huge ego driven flaws that require a megalithic perspective shift.

If you're reading books like that, might I also suggest Mindfulness in Plain English: http://www.amazon.com/Mindfulness-Plain-English-Anniversary-...

I found it incredibly useful.

Awesome I agree. Read this several years ago! Great book! The observer is such a powerful concept, also covered in practical detail by Holiday. Thank you, though, and check this out: http://lionserpent.com/unity.html :)

R programming, Android development, and Lisp programming with Norvig's book.

Android development. So far, it is the exact opposite of what fun with computers is.

At work I'm learning networking, writing effective javascript, building backend APIs for multiple consumers, and tastypie which is basically REST for Django.

At home I'm playing around with algorithms for drawing trees, studying linear algebra, and taking the Coursera ML course by Andrew Ng.

Japanese. Got the JLPT N3 in two weeks.

Was this with any prior experience with the language?

I live in Japan and take regular lessons, so yes.

I'm also taking the N3 in a couple of weeks. 頑張れ！

Thanks! You too!

Started a project using AngularJS. I'm finding it quite fun and exciting. I have a decent JQuery background and find myself having to actively refrain from using JQuery. Trying to learning the "Angular way" of doing things.

Grails. I'm a C#/.NET programmer. I've been trying out Scala with Play, and Clojure with Luminus, and RoR before then. Grails is making me the happiest as an open source alternative to C#.

Django and the Django Rest Framework. I develop android apps but it feels I lack skills in creating web services. Also, I'm learning how to solve problems - it's a tough one

SICP. It's my first introduction to functional or object-oriented programming. It's making me want to minimize mutable data/state in my projects from now on.

Linear algebra by the David Poole's book "Linear algebra: A modern introducing" (not even learning seriously, just refreshing 'cause I am CS-graduate)

Quantum weak measurement and generating GPU code in haskell

Objective-C.

A lot of people suggested I get straight into Swift but some of my clients need help with their existing apps so I chose to start with Obj-C.

Learning the Ada programming language. I can't believe I had not looked into it all this time. It's awesome.

C# for use with XNA. Working on an indie xbox/Windows game which I hope to port to MonoGame and other platforms.

I'm picking up Node at the moment. Express makes it incredibly easy for me to knock up a REST API.

Learning to make my first iOS app using Swift within 2 weeks. I'm almost done the first week...

Machine Learning and Korean!

JQuery! Can't believe how much I do in just a few lines.

OpenGL and Chinese.

How are you learning your Chinese? What methods are you using and teaching materials too

For a list of resources, see a previous answer I wrote here:

http://hn.algolia.com/#!/comment/forever/prefix/0/skritter%2...

You _will_ need a teacher (native speaker) from the beginning, to correct your pronunciation (mainly tones) before you develop bad habits.

As wrong as this may sound. I read and have mostly Chinese co-workers to ask, correct me, etc. My local community college also offers classes that I am going to take in the fall.

programming-wise, AngularJS. Reading a few typography books on the side (finding it really interesting by far) :-)

AngularJS and devops. CoreOS is so cool!

SDL2 in C++ and Android development.

I am learning RoR and Bootstrap.

Learning Clojure

Hadoop.

Angular js

Fuck yeah ok? Kiss lobe 💕💕

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