In defense of blub studies | benkuhn.net

Why it’s worth it to deeply understand the fiddly, boring-seeming details of the computer systems you use every day.

Sometimes people ask me what they should learn to become a better programmer. I feel like the default recommendation here is usually an obscure programming language or a textbook on some high-powered machinery like ML. So I always feel a little bit embarrassed and boring when I instead suggest going really deep on what you already know: your main programming language, web framework, object-relational mapper, UI library, version control system, database, Unix tools, etc. It's not shiny or esoteric, but for me, building a detailed mental model of those (and how they compare to alternatives) migh

saved by

• Leo Ware
• Katherine Driscoll
• Andy Tang
• Vincent Cheng
• Arjun Khandelwal
• Lailah Nabegu

related reading

• Computers can be understood - Made of Bugsblog.nelhage.com
• Essays on programming I think about a lot | benkuhn.netbenkuhn.net
• Everything I know about good system designseangoedecke.com
• Cognitive load is what mattersminds.md
• Learn In Publicswyx.io
• benkuhn.netbenkuhn.net
• how I think when I think about programming - alice mazalicemaz.com
• The Grug Brained Developergrugbrain.dev
• Being Productivefuridamu.org
• What to learndanluu.com
• How To Learn Stuff Quickly • Josh W. Comeaujoshwcomeau.com
• Things unlearnedscattered-thoughts.net