Ask HN: Programming Courses for Experienced Coders?

Hacker News Discussion ↗

Experienced developers looking to advance beyond beginner tutorials often struggle to find high-level programming courses, especially for languages like Elixir. Contributors point instead to deep projects (compilers, interpreters, databases, emulators), advanced books and university-style resources, niche courses (e.g., performance, Raft, software design), and code-reading of real frameworks as more effective paths. A recurring theme is that truly advanced material is rare, fragmented, and often expensive because it targets a much smaller audience and is harder to teach well.

Perceived Gap in Advanced Programming Education

  • Many see a shortage of “intermediate/advanced” programming materials, especially compared to sports coaching or security training.
  • Complaints: most content is beginner-focused, labeled “advanced” for marketing, or too low information density.
  • Others argue advanced material exists (books, talks, papers) but is harder, niche, and often irrelevant to typical jobs.

Strategies for Learning as an Experienced Programmer

  • Build non-trivial systems: compilers/interpreters, databases, OS components, emulators, file systems, git, blockchains, web servers.
  • Port existing personal projects to a new language and make them idiomatic.
  • Deep-dive existing large codebases or frameworks, stepping through with a debugger.
  • Use competitive programming / puzzle sites (Advent of Code, LeetCode) to strengthen algorithms and confidence.
  • Read a lot of books and code; cultivate “taste” for simplicity and aggressively refactor.

Elixir-Focused Recommendations

  • Several courses and books aimed at programmers already versed in another language: Elixir/OTP guides, LiveView and Phoenix courses, OTP-focused materials, property-based testing resources, and a trading-bot project course.
  • Suggestions to study the BEAM VM directly and to use community forums and Learn-X-in-Y-Minutes style references.
  • Advice to inspect Phoenix and the BEAM internals to understand real-world Elixir usage and concurrency.

General Advanced Resources & Courses

  • Systems and programming books on interpreters/compilers, operating systems, databases, systems programming, CPU emulation, performance, memory, and testing.
  • Courses and workshops on Raft, compilers, SICP, performance-aware programming, interpreters, and advanced software design.
  • CS fundamentals guides, performance and HPC references, architecture books, and conference talks (e.g., Strange Loop, InfoQ).
  • Practice-centric platforms: Codecrafters, Exercism, Execute Program, computerenhance.

On Coaching, Mentoring, Economics, and AI Tools

  • Mentoring and coaching are praised but seen as expensive and rare; some propose more structured coaching relationships.
  • Thread discusses why few experts write deep material: limited time, small market, difficulty, and picky advanced audiences.
  • AI tools are reported as useful for exploration and quick prototypes but unreliable due to hallucinated APIs and reasoning limits.