Jack Kinsella

Online courses are really great, but the Python tutorial is sufficient in itself.

I did this:

- Read edw519 free PDF book, jump out of the bed and start learning. [0]

- Read the Python tutorial from A-Z and learned it. [1]

- Read Learn Python the hard way book and practice. [2]

- Solved some problems from Project Euler. [3]

- Learnt Django. (Started with the tutorial) [4]

- Built something with Django.

- Solved some problems from CheckIO. [5]

- Built something with PyQt. [6]

- Built my own library, even if it's stupid. [7]

- Released a couple of packages even if they are small. [8]

The key thing is to learn AND BUILD something at the same time, and try to remember everything deeply. I used the Janki method [9] to learn statements, code snippets.
This took me about a year, but after that, I did not need to apply for a job, however I did once and got that too.

[0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=edw519

[1]: https://docs.python.org/2/tutorial/index.html

[2]: http://learnpythonthehardway.org/

[3]: https://projecteuler.net/

[4]: https://docs.djangoproject.com/

[5]: https://www.checkio.org/

[6]: https://github.com/kissgyorgy/Womanager

[7]: https://github.com/pokerregion/poker

[8]: https://pypi.python.org/pypi/poker
https://pypi.python.org/pypi/enum34-custom
https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pytest-raisesregexp

[9]: http://www.jackkinsella.ie/2011/12/05/janki-method.html

A lot of people point out other software.

The whole point is the algorithm [1] which how Anki schedules your cards. It is based on Supermemo's [2], and improved a lot over the years, so I think it's the most optimal from all of the SRS software's out there.

Also I think Anki has a very simple UI, not sure how people can find it complicated. You just add cards, and by review you press a button, that's all. Cards are just HTML, but you can edit them with the built in WYSIWYG editor.

Anki is great for learning programming languages!
See the Janki method [3] and another blog post [4] how to use it effectively. I found the last one especially helpful, and started learning Programming languages based on that. It works great.
You can also learn linux commands, whatever.

People also asked for sharing cards. It is very important to make your own cards progressively and learn from those, because you know what you need to emphasize for the info to stick. Just use small information on every card, use your own terms, and it will be much easier to learn, compared to some random deck you downloaded.

[1]: http://ankisrs.net/docs/manual.html#what-spaced-repetition-algorithm-does-anki-use

[2]: http://www.supermemo.com/english/ol/sm2.htm

[3]: http://sivers.org/srs

[4]: http://www.jackkinsella.ie/2011/12/05/janki-method.html

The approach the author used here is similar to using flashcard apps like anki, except not as well fleshed out.

Normally, in a flashcard app, you would write down a question and an answer. So you can review the question, and see if you can answer it or not. He wrote this down all as a oneliner for each of his "learnings". Its nice to see a frequency graph to see how often you are learning, but it doesn't really serve a purpose besides showing how inconsistent you are learning new things.

I would highly suggest anyone interested in the authors approach to learning to read these 2 articles about spaced-repetition-learning and flashcards, which goes into much more detail.

https://www.jackkinsella.ie/articles/janki-method.

https://www.supermemo.com/en/articles/20rules

Not all things benefit equally from writing things down learned / flashcards. Some things can only be learned through practice, such as learning a sport you aren't familiar with such as football. But flashcards can be beneficial here to learn about the rules of football, the mechanics, terminology, etc.

The hardest part is differentiating what pieces of information benefit from using flashcards and which don't, and consistently recognizing when new information is learned / making a flashcard for it

Similar to this post, Jack Kinsella has written how he used Spaced Repetition Software to learn and keep programming knowledge in the following articles:

http://www.jackkinsella.ie/articles/janki-method

https://www.jackkinsella.ie/articles/janki-method-refined

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JCHkqVoX598Ob_111khrGoJ5cpeh_ahU/view?usp=sharing

Derek Sivers also has written on memorising a programming language using SRS software: https://sivers.org/srs

One important thing in the original article is about flow, or the feeling of being in the state of flow if you don't need to remove yourself from the task for looking up documentation. I think that is a worthy goal to aim for but I am amazed at the amount of cards he has created, nearly 10,000 over a period of three years. He has put in lot of effort and reaped the reward.

>Maybe if you're more interested in keeping things simple than in making more money.

Yup, that's exactly my own motivation. I've set mine up to run fairly automatically. Obviously it needs oversight and growth. It just doesn't need them right away.

So if I want to take a couple weeks off, I can. And I don't have to hold that many details in my head/when working I can hold more longer run details in my head.

I value that more than earning a very large amount of money.

This is a good article laying out hte mindset behind this. The four freedoms are the main consideration:

http://www.jackkinsella.ie/2014/04/24/on-passive-income.html

You can do quite a lot while keeping all four, but it has some obvious tradeoffs at higher levels of business.

I and I think everyone else heard of spaced repetition software from that Wired article in ... 2007, was it?

Here's my favourite writeup so far:

http://www.jackkinsella.ie/2011/12/05/janki-method.html

My main problem is having a fixed time to do the reviews.

The second "problem" is that repetition just helps you to remember. Until you understand what you're memorising, it's useless. (This is the first thing you're told, but I'll tell you again).

So the truly hard work -- wrestling with material until you get it -- is still there. You just get to cut down on how often you'll have to do it in future.