Good advice.  Sometimes you have to look for opportunities to learn new skills.   Awhile back I was asked by a colleague to write a program to process some research data (it was actually related to something I've worked on) and since it was going to be a one off program I decided to use a noSQL database (MongoDB) in the implementation even though I could have used something I was more familiar with.   I haven't used MongoDB since but at least I'm familiar with it enough now that I won't be starting from scratch if I'm "forced" to use it later.

-----Original Message-----
From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Mark Pernotto
Sent: Monday, February 18, 2013 1:38 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] You *are* a coder. So what am I?

My recommendation to those interested in coding, either professionally or as a hobby, is to find your passion - find an application you can immediately have an impact on, and see the result - and then get picky with the language, if you must.  For me, at least, the most infuriating thing was not having an application to apply whatever new skill I picked up on.