How to stay connected to the programming community?

Question

I often find myself detached from the programming community and I generally find out about all the "cool" things that are happening after they have already happened. So my question is how do you stay connected and up to date with the programming community? Podcasts, blogs, meet ups, conventions, twitter, talking with your co-workers whatever it may be that keeps you connected. Please provide actual examples of which blogs, talks, etc you use.

Answer 1

top 100 blogs: http://www.noop.nl/2008/09/top-100-blogs-for-development-managers-q3-2008.html

Answer 2

I use news aggregators like the Programming SubReddit and Hacker News.

Answer 3

Web forum been my thing that helped me to stay connected with the community.

Answer 4

I know this really great site called stackoverflow.com. If you just follow the pulse of the questions there, you get a great impression of what's moving in the programming world.

Answer 5

A lot of what you do to stay connected depends on your interests. No one can cover all areas of the Software enterprise well. So choose your interests and the amount of attention to devote carefully.

For me I use searches on Google to understand 'the need of the moment' and then let Blogs direct my wanderings. Blogs tend to be the most dynamic and allow for quick foraging of information.

Also don't forget to pay attention to the comments people post on Blog entries. Sometimes these comments have been the most rewarding sources of links to further information.

Most of all have fun while you are learning!

Answer 6

Nothing beats "IRL". Seek out local (Atlanta in your case) user groups, code camps, bar camps, meetups, Tech.Ed, Mix etc.. The last few are more Microsoft focussed - I'm not sure of your background and interests.

Twitter is a great way to connect too. A lot of Twitter users have local meetups xTUBs (x Twitter Underground Brigades). For exampleinstance here's the web page for the Sydney Twitter meetup group - http://sydney.twitterusergroup.com/. You can search Twitter for local people in the places part of http://search.twitter.com/advanced. Add some keywords and you've got yourself a list of people to follow.

As an aside, an RSS reader (NewsGator FeedDemon - Windows only - is my fav) is a good way to keep track of blogs you find & like.

Perhaps involve yourself in an open-source project that you have an interest in?

Aw, go on, don't be shy.

Answer 7

Local user groups like the Calgary .Net User Group in my case, along with sites like this, compsci.ca, as well as blogs like those of Scott Guthrie, Brad Abrams, Martin Fowler,as well as Joel and Jeff that started this site would be some of my basics. There are also some local people I try to follow like James Kovacs, John Bristowe, and Bill Simser that also keep me on my toes.

Co-workers will sometimes find things of interest to pass along as well as the odd expert that may come into where I work like consultants from Thoughtworks for example.