Let me tell you a story to help you understand why filling programming knowledge gaps is important. So, 7 years ago I learned CSS for the first time. I learned mostly by implementation and watching individual guides as I went along designing websites.
My CSS Journey
At most times I could implement pretty much any front end design with styling. Issue was, it took me 5+ hours. I didn't truly understand all the fundamentals of CSS but I understood enough to get by.
Years pass and this 5 hour issue turned to 1-2 hours when I see a design I want to copy. When I was working on my WordPress blog for the first time, 1 month ago, jessenerio.com, it still took me about 1 hour per page to write down my styling for each page in WordPress.
Yes, I was getting by and all, but come on. 1 hour for 7 years of CSS to write 1 page? I already knew the design I wanted, this was simply me fiddling and guessing a few CSS properties for each tag until I got what I wanted.
The Knowledge Gap Problem
And, in my defense, I did know most CSS styling rules, but there were a small group that were tripping me up. They were my coding knowledge gaps.
For about 4 years up to that point, every time I ran into one of these gaps, I would just fudge my way through it. You know what I mean? I would try different values, maybe read a quick Stack Overflow post, and move on. I never took the time to truly understand these gaps.
How to Identify Your Gaps
If you want to become a champion coder, you need to identify where your knowledge gaps are. These are the areas where you feel unsure, where you struggle, where you have to guess or look things up constantly.
Common signs of knowledge gaps:
- You find yourself looking up the same thing repeatedly
- You feel slow compared to others doing the same task
- You don't fully understand why something works
- You cargo cult your code (copy-paste without understanding)
- You make mistakes repeatedly in similar situations
How to Fill the Gaps
Once you identify your gaps, the next step is to fill them systematically. This doesn't mean reading a giant textbook cover to cover. It means targeted, focused learning on your specific gaps.
Here's my strategy for filling knowledge gaps:
- Identify the gap: Know exactly what you don't understand
- Find a quality resource: Look for comprehensive tutorials or documentation on that specific topic
- Practice with purpose: Build small projects that specifically use that knowledge
- Teach others: Explain what you learned to someone else or write about it
- Apply it: Use this new knowledge in your real projects
The Payoff
The payoff is massive. After I spent 2 weeks truly understanding CSS (not just skimming tutorials, but really learning), my time to implement designs dropped from 1 hour to 15-20 minutes. That's a 300% improvement!
More importantly, I became more confident. I wasn't guessing anymore. I understood the why behind my code, not just the what. This confidence carries over to other areas of programming.
Start Today
Think about your current programming language or framework. What are the areas where you feel least confident? Those are your knowledge gaps. Start with one and commit to filling it properly.
Become a champion coder by systematically filling your knowledge gaps. Your future self will thank you, and more importantly, your code will be better for it.