One of you asked a disturbing question

I get questions from you smart chaps and chap-ettes every day. But one of you just worried me:

"I bought several of your courses before. I am considering your new course, Test-Driven Python, but I am not that big into testing. Do you think this course will help me getting a better understanding of..."

And then he asks about a random Python topic he's interested in.

The question itself doesn't worry me. It's a fine question. What disturbs me is that I failed.

I want to leap right up onto the table in front of him, in a single breathless bound, and wildly exclaim like a man gone wild:

"Are you kidding!? This will make you better at EVERY SINGLE THING you do with software, for the rest of your LIFE!"

And my failure is that I didn't make that clear to him yet.

You see, there are two kinds of skills you can learn as a programmer... and pay attention, because this is important:

One kind of skill... we'll call "tactical".

All these "How do to X in Python Using Y and Z" articles are at that level. And those are useful. Keeping up with new technologies, and how to apply them.

But there's another kind of skill... called "strategic".

This kind of skill is more FUNDAMENTAL. More basic. More pervasive, in what it affects.

And over time, this kind of skill is UNIVERSES more powerful... in how it affects all the code you write.

You need both, of course. But what I do with you in my newsletter, this blog, etc., leans toward the strategic. I rarely talk about anything that won't be useful to you for YEARS.

So in your ongoing process of self-education and learning, ask yourself:

Have you been focusing on the tactical too much? Prematurely optimizing yourself into a rut... while those who learn more strategically are "lifting off" to new heights?

(Do you think this article has no value, because there's no Python code in it? If so, you need to re-read from the start, more thoroughly... what's above might be the most important thing I've ever taught you.)

Summing up:

There's almost no better bang for your buck, bucko, than to master writing unit tests. And doing it now - as fast as you can. So you can start reaping those transformational benefits.