DjangoCon: Perfect practice makes perfect

The first keynote was delivered by Tobias Kunze, discussing how to improve programming skills. He was inspired by other disciplines, like gaming or playing an instrument. His main point was that practice leads to improvement.

This was a refreshing topic, as the significance of practice is not often emphasised in software development.

Have you ever looked up something, only to realise that you've searched for the same piece of information multiple times? It might not bother you much, and you might think you've only wasted a little time. However, constantly looking things up disrupts your workflow.

Here are some tips:

• Work hard and learn by doing. Avoid taking shortcuts or skipping steps.
• Create flashcards to practice anytime, whether during travel or while waiting in a queue.
• Challenge yourself by hiding parts of code and attempting to write them from scratch. Afterwards, compare your code with the actual solution.

My main takeaway is this: Don't just practice; invest yourself and stay focused. Only through perfect practice can you achieve perfection.