There are a number of new (and not so new) things I would like to learn or have been meaning to learn. Maybe putting them down on “paper” will serve as a reminder and I can revisit this at the end of the year.

So here is my list:

• ember.js: I have always shied away from front-end development because I felt like it is horribly messy compared to server side code. But with the rise of so many Javascript frameworks and the huge surge in popularity of JS due to things like node.js and the Appcelerator Titanium platform I feel like the time might be right. Ember.js looks extremely promising and interesting.

• Vagrant: I have never gotten past the very first example script that is on the Vagrant site due to time issues. But with ever more complex development environments it just makes sense to put in the time to get this to work.
• Symfony2: It’s time, it is sooo time. I have been working with sf1 since 2009 and have started using sf2 components and more recently been playing with composer a bit and really want to put the sf1 times behind me as much as that is possible with a fairly large sf1 code base to maintain. Since attending Symfony LIVE in Berlin last year I really want to start developing in Symfony2 full time.
• Python: I have a very limited knowledge of Python at this point. The only exposure I have gotten is due to my work with fabric. But I would like to gain a deeper understanding of the language to possibly write some of my long running data processing scripts in Python instead of PHP.
• TDD: My first experience with TDD was back in 2006 with C++. This is when I came to understand all the benefits and started advocating TDD within my organisation. I practiced TDD quite consistently until 2009 when I switched to PHP (don’t ask). Ever since, I have only ever “started” to get back into it. In fact I have started several times. The tools are there, I have the knowledge (for the most part), so there really is not excuse to not consistently practice TDD.