How do I improve my skills working in a small shop?

Question

I'm a self-taught programmer and I'm working for a company that doesn't deal directly with building software (a glass manufacturer with a small IT team). I'm the only .NET developer there, although there are 3 SAP programmers with a bit of Visual Basic 6 background.

Now I'm only a medium-level developer myself and I want to improve my skills, but it's rather hard when you are the "one-eyed king" in the proverbial land of blinds.

Without leaving the employer, what can I do to improve my skills in such a sub-par learning environment?

Answer 1

You have the challenge of continuously learning without facing problems in your workplace!

Here's some things I'd do (or have done):

1. See if you can contribute code (or even a whole solution) to your current job. Maybe there's something that needs to be redesigned or a process that you could improve.
2. Take on some small freelance projects. Learn and get paid. Try not to overdo it though; it is easy to get burnt out.
3. Open source! Start contributing to a project. I'm sure there's plenty of .NET needs out there. If not, start your own project.
4. As @Jon stated, look for some social development type of opportunities.

You should get in the habit of constantly consuming - I do this by setting aside at least an hour a day to work on a pet project. It means getting up an hour earlier, but I feel much sharper, especially when I need to use the knowledge later at work.

Answer 2

Probably the best thing you can do is to keep being self-taught. Keep learning stuff on your own and do some personal projects.

You can also search around for developer guilds and code camps in your area. Those are also great ways to network and meet other developers. I always love going to code camps, myself. They are just so much fun :]