In programming's world, we could state it is basic and essential to stay aware of the new stack/information of our area, in this way you figure out how to put yourself ahead of the pack and face the different difficulties that are introduced to you in your every day in an ideal way.
Refactor some portion of the code, add new functionality in the application, choose a technological stack for a new project, upgrade a deprecated code from 5 years ago (Who has not had this beautiful task? 😛).
These are just a few examples of different situations that may arise for which you need to make the right decisions that fit the problem to be solved. How is it achieved? With knowledge, constantly updating yourself, and being self-taught.
That is why I want to give you some incredible tools that have helped me over time, to be informed of what is happening around.
1. Daily DEV
This beautiful tool allows you to centralize articles from various platforms (Medium, Hasnode, DEV, etc), in one place. It is an extension that you can integrate into Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Chrome. Every time you open a tab, a series of quite interesting articles will appear that you have previously filtered according to your interests when installing the extension. What I love the most about it is the simple fact that when you open a tab you can browse any variety of articles, definitely is one of the tools that I use the most in my day to day, one of the cons I see is that you can get distracted easily, but we know that acquiring knowledge is not a sin 😏)
2. Product Hunt
Surely many have heard about this tool. It allows you to visualize the technological products that are in trend. In fact, many of the tools that I have used, I got them from this application. You can also subscribe via email and be informed weekly of the news that appears.
3. Trending Insights or Surveys
https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2020
Although these tools do not fit with the day-to-day (For example, developer surveys such as StackOverflow are annual), it is of great importance to dedicate moments of the year to review these types of metrics (languages, libraries, salaries, topics, among others) and be surprised with the results.
4. Eventbrite
Finally, nothing more nor less than a platform to discover events, webinars, conferences, meetups, and classes that you could attend virtually or in person. Subscribe to the topics that interest you and you will surely receive a conference or two that you find attractive.
Conclusion
One of the experiences that I have learned throughout the career and that has marked me the most, is that you never have to stay only with the knowledge that the project, university, training, etc. gives you.
Always remember:
Knowledge is power
Do you implement other tech tools to boost up your knowledge? Let us know in the comments section!