Ask HN: What should I spend my $150 monthly education expense on?

2 points by metra 14 years ago | 4 comments

My company lets me expense $150 dollars a month for computer science & software development education. What should I spend the money on? I've considered the ACM, IEEE, conferences, books, etc but would like an opinion from you guys.

keiferski 14 years ago |

Try

http://www.lynda.com

An unlimited monthly pass will run you $25 ($37.50 if premium). Their library is quite large.

padwiki 14 years ago |

What technologies/languages do you want to focus on?

metra 14 years ago | |

Python and Java; backend stuff. But, more generally, what paid resources are there?

padwiki 14 years ago | | |

Honestly, in your budget, I think your best bet is going to be focusing on building your library. You can get the same benefit from conferences by snagging the webcasts and papers online. Colleges and Universities (other than mine, and our backend courses probably won't be ready for another 6 months or so) don't really teach Python, and the Java they teach is academic. Plus, you are looking at $500-$1000 a credit for anything decent you might find.

Certs are nice for networking and security, but for application development, experience counts for way more.

So, as much as it kind of sucks, loading up on the reading material is where I would spend my budget.