Kalid Azad, Starting Ruby on Rails: What I Wish I Knew

Kalid writes: There’s always a better way to explain a topic. Insights are fluid, mutable, and work for different people. I’m sharing the insights that helped me, hoping they’ll help you too.

Here’s my take on learning:

Ideas start hard and finish simple.

Complicated ideas get easier. Multiplication, reading and even tying your shoes seemed tough at first and are trivial now. Likewise, I believe (I know!) that math, science, business, technology or any topic can be understood at an intuitive level – after overcoming the initial complexity.

The best teacher is you – after you’ve learned the subject.

You are your own perfect tutor. Think about it – you overcame the problems and can explain the solution in language that makes sense. Unfortunately, we can’t go back in time. But I can share the “Ah-ha!” moments that I’ve found.

And maybe you think like me, so the explanation works for you too. Or maybe you think a little differently, and a helpful comment gives an insight that works better. Our “ah-ha!” moments are different, and that’s ok. There’s no single way to explain an idea, yet we all have a single textbook.