Learn a variety of programming paradigms:
- Write a program in assembly language: MS/GNU
- Write an application in a functional language: Lisp/Haskell/ML/OCaml/Clojure/Erlang
- Write an application in an object-oriented language: C++/Java/Smalltalk/Ruby
- Write an application in a prototype-based language: Javascript
- Write an application in a logic programming language: Prolog
- Write an application in math language: Mathematica/Matlab/R
- Write an application using WEB
- Write an application using the Actor model
- Write an application in Forth
Experience the ins and outs of programming for different platforms:
- Write a game: OpenGL/DX/WebGL
- Write a nontrivial web app: Blog
- Write a nontrivial desktop app: Qt
- Write a nontrivial mobile app: Android/IOS
- Write an embedded app: Linux
- Write a realtime system
Enhance your understanding of the building blocks that we use as developers:
- Write a networking client (e.g., HTTP, FTP)
- Write a device driver
- Write a B-tree database
- Wrap an existing library to provide a better (more pleasant) user experience
- Write an application or framework that provides a plugin model
- Write a testing framework
- Write a programming language
- Write a operating system
Enlighten yourself with koans, katas, and the wisdom of ages:
Program in the open:
- Contribute to an open source project
- Have a patch accepted
- Earn commit rights on a significant open source project
- Publish an open source project
- Perform a Refactotum of an open source project
Learn by teaching others:
- Present a lightning talk
- Present at a local user group
- Present at a conference
- Deliver a training course
- Publish a tutorial
- Publish a constructive code review of an open source project
- Write a programming book