You got this! You know the fundamentals. You are a learner. Plus The Imposter's Handbook

Sometimes we all get overwhelmed. There's a million (no irony there) reasons to be overwhelmed today, to be sure. I got an email from a community member who was feeling like they hadn't kept up on the latest tech. Of course, anything you learn today will be obsolete tomorrow, right? I'm overwhelmed thinking of it!

I wrote a little thread about this on Twitter and I wanted to expand on it here.

Maybe you're a dev who's been keeping up and fresh on the latest since jump, or maybe you've been using the same reliable framework for your whole career.

It can be totally overwhelming when you "wake up" and look around and notice that you don't know NOUN.js or ASPNET 10 or the like. You feel like it's over, and you've missed the boat. I want to encourage you. You're a developer! You have a good base to build on!

You may not know today's JavaScript/Java/C# but you DO know JavaScript/Java/C#. Yes, the Internet moved your cheese while you were sleeping, but you DID grow. When talking to employers, emphasize the base of knowledge you bring. Frameworks come and go. Fundamentals remain.

I really recommend Rob Conery's "The Imposter's Handbook" as a great way to reinforce those fundamentals and core concepts.Rob has been programming for years but without a CS degree. This book is about all the things he learned and all the gaps that got filled in while he was overwhelmed.

Yes this is a squishy blog post, but sometimes that's what's needed. You are smart, you are capable. Look at the replies to the twitter thread and you'll see you are not alone. Your job as a programmer is to be the figure-outer.

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