Someone here on devrant told me

You cant learn everything. Its impossible. Instead you just have to learn how to learn

Now i got flashback to this several weeks later

And i begin to realize as i learn gitlab ci/cd (i only know github cicd so far)

Wondered

How would i integrate this cicd with spring boot java backend app?
Or angular?
Or nextjs?
Or nodejs?

Then I realized

I dont have to fucking learn all of that individually

Instead i can just learn how gitlab cicd works once

And then apply that same concept with slight modifications to whatever tech stack is in use

Does this make sense?

Is this how i should think while i learn new tech?

Is this the proper way of learning how to learn?

hmm... it really depends on what kind of integration you need.

First, make sure you understand the task.

I like to open up a new leafpad/notapad and temporarily write down in bulletpoints:

- the goal(s) I have to achieve

- restrictions, having impact on HOW I have to achieve those goals

well.. it still depends on you learning the frameworks specific commands... though for 99% of them (unless you are kiki and ignorantly refuse to use a modern framework) the command is the equivalent of 'install'

but there are recipes out there for CI/CD for almost any framework. just snoop around on github!

also, it depends heavily on what you are deploying... this comes with experience. of course for example the most basic node app would just be "npm install" and "npm build"... but once you get additional custom steps, artifacts that need transferring, etc. etc.... don't underestimate even things like "ci/cd", even though its not technically true coding / programming; still requires a lot of domain experience and knowledge!

and finally, bitbucket pipelines / github actions / gitlab ci/cd (and more) are all the same.. just a step based yaml file

Google it

Every thing will have it's particularities but it seems you got the jist of it. I deed just learn how to learn, the foundation of everything.

Basically any task could be dissected into specific vs general knowledge.

To build up on @fullstackcircus example:

If you know and can make sense of a process workflow, general knowledge.

If you can read or utilize a YAML parser, general knowledge (cause it *can* be written by hand).

To transfer the process workflow in the given framework provided by the CI via the YAML description: Specific knowledge. You need to know what the CI wants and what it accepts. Plus practice / experience, as some CIs have a *lot* of dark corners and backstabbing alleys.

Thats imho what learning what to learn truly means and what I critize often: its not enough to learn sth by heart, its necessary to learn and adapt the knowledge - sometimes specialized knowledge can be easily adapted to general knowledge and vice versa.