I have this problem sometimes with my software developers. I think because they read too much hacker news and "trendy" news sites they believe the moment they aren't working in a cutting edge code base they are not evolving as developers.

That couldn't be further from the truth. You learn much more navigating a very complex code base, having to introduce changes without breaking the APIs, making decisions about scope and communicating with stakeholders who rely on that API. Evolving a big legacy code base that is generating revenue to the business and supporting the core users is a very hard software problem

Greenfield development is easy, anyone out of a bootcamp knows how to put A+B together from internet articles.. I honestly am not amused when I see CVs of people who keep just playing with cool toys and never maintaining their code, people who never worked in code bases that are 5+ years or stayed a long time in a company.. IMO as a rule, and every rule has an exception, they aren't valuable software engineers. They haven't had to support their own systems until they become legacy... they're fad driven developers.

The best thing you can do is read this book: https://www.amazon.ca/Pragmatic-Programmer-journey-mastery-A... and apply its lessons in your company, in a code base for years.

Whatever framework or technology you're chasing honestly doesn't matter. It's bound to be considered legacy at some point anyways.

Hacking is about solving a series of specific problems. Reading will give you direct insight into another's pre-established knowledge, but it's probably not relevant, and it may not be correct.

Code kata in my opinion is the superior way to learn. Code through practice and repetition, just like every other skill.

Ironically, you can read a book about it https://www.amazon.com/Pragmatic-Programmer-journey-mastery-...

I didn't see any mention of in a quick look through the linked website, but the book "The Pragmatic Programmer" is one of the best resources you'll find for making the most out of text-based tools. PP goes a little beyond that, too, it's not the book's sole focus, but it's a major one, and the book is a classic: https://www.amazon.com/Pragmatic-Programmer-journey-mastery-...

https://www.amazon.com/Pragmatic-Programmer-journey-mastery-...