How to keep up to date on  Front-End Technologies

I live on Twitter. I depend on it to give me an idea of what's popular and upcoming, and also what problems people are dealing with. This influences the way I think and the projects I take on.

I also still read web-related RSS feeds, books, magazines and more when I travel.

The other big thing that I find essential for keeping up to date on new technology is to experiment. Find some time outside of your normal job to tinker with a project, contribute to someone else's, or play around with a new bit of technology. Play, fail, succeed, share, repeat.

I keep up with front-end technologies religiously. As part of my daily activities, I spend 20 to 30 minutes reviewing twitter and RSS feeds, investigating anything that sparks my interest.

I am also regularly reading (books), watching (videos), or writing about my practice. From time to time I pick a coding, or writing, project and focus all of my spare time in this area. When I tire of writing words or code I simply spend time reading code.

When I'm feeling burnt out I'll attend a conference so that I can be inspired by ideas and people. And when I am really bored I start looking into practices that cross over into my area of expertise.

The secret to keeping up is not to view it as an extra chore, but instead as part of the job I've chosen.

• html5rocks.com
• peter.sh
• masataka yakura on G+
• @simevidas
• my RSS feed bundles (OPML is available)
• @ebidel
• @chromiumdev
• Open Web Platform Weekly Summary
• chromium blog
• HTML5 Weekly
• JS Weekly
• Web Design Weekly

and knowing the people behind all significant projects :)

1. I have several feeds I read almost daily
2. I follow lots of people involved in web standards or browser development or are just very good developers
3. I actually read specifications from time to time, some of them are easy to understand and they are first-hand sources. W3C mailing lists also help: You learn about web technologies at the moment of their creation and can even influence them!
4. Conferences, both for the discussions and the sessions

Everybody knows that Twitter is the best place to find information such as tutorials or blog posts about a new technology. But who writes them? Where do they get their information from?

At some point you need to go right to the core... the mailing lists, specifications and even source code. By getting used to reading the specifications and participating in some mailing list conversations and understanding some of the source code, you will naturally become a better developer and understand it all much more.

The only way that I've found that I'm able to stay up to date is by creating. I follow a well-curated list of people on twitter, and read blogs and programming news sites, but when it comes down to it, the only time I'm ever really learning is when I'm doing.

When I want to learn something, I'll just start a project with it, and along the way I'll figure out the other tools I need to be successful. After a few failed attempts, normally I can create something meaningful (that I usually throw away anyways) that allows me to understand core concepts and/or make quick uninformed jabs about things that I don't like or understand.

I recommend three resources for staying up to date on front end technologies.

First, Twitter is invaluable. Start with famous JavaScript people you know (e.g. the creator of your framework of choice) and continue from there – sooner or later you will come across interesting retweets, recommendations on who to follow, etc.

Second, Echo JS is a JavaScript news site in the tradition of Hacker News.

Third, the Cooper Press email newsletters are a convenient weekly source of information (disclaimer: I edit JavaScript Weekly).

These days I find myself heavily relying on Twitter lists and G+ circles to keep up to date with what's happening on the front-end.

If there are tools or libraries I regularly use, I try to keep an eye on what the developers working on them might have to say because that's how you find out insights, tips/tricks and information about what's coming next.

It's also a great idea to follow those kind souls working on our behalf in the web standards space. More often these days drafts of potential specs are posted early on social networks meaning you have a chance to both review and if you're interested, contribute to what the web platform might look like in a few years.

I follow people on Twitter who produce new things. Some people like to follow just blogs, but I like to see what the people who make things recommend. My Twitter feed has sort of replaced my old RSS feed to some extent - I am way more likely to read an article recommended by someone who I see posting their repos alongside it. That kind of behavior tells me that the person is both an active developer and someone who thinks about their craft in most cases.

I'm trying to spend more time on various W3C working group and specification mailing lists. There is a lot that goes over my head about the specific implementations of features that as a web developer I would take for granted every day. Sometimes keeping up is challenging, but I like a good challenge and as I stick around I learn more and more so I can ideally contribute more to the discussion in the future.

There is a saying that goes around: "If you feel like you are the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room." Surround yourself with people who are intelligent but not cocky about it.