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Ask HN: What's a surprisingly useful tech skill that's underrated today?

30 points Userrr | 2 comments | 12 Apr 25 08:13 UTC | HN request time: 0.419s | source

We often talk about mastering popular languages, frameworks, and AI tools. But what about the less-hyped skills that quietly make you 10x more effective?

For example:

Knowing how to write a custom shell script that replaces a SaaS tool

Building internal tools with no-code + cron + GitHub Actions

Understanding how to optimize a slow SQL query line-by-line

Crafting a bash one-liner that saves you hours every week

Using the command line like a superpower

I'm curious: What are the most underrated but highly valuable tech skills you've learned that more people should know about?

Would love to hear stories, examples, or even niche tools you swear by. Bonus points if it’s something you only discovered by accident or necessity, not through a tutorial.

1. runjake ◴[14 Apr 25 17:57 UTC] No.43684207[source]▶
1. Understanding the fundamentals deeply, so that it's "muscle memory". Everyone is trying to race and learn as much as they can. I think they'd get much farther by focusing more on the fundamentals of the technology they use and the whys of that technology.

2. Caring. A lot of people just plain don't care. This might not be their fault. It may be a compensation issue, I don't know, but it's pretty rare, in my experience.

replies(1): >>43685483 #
2. ferguess_k ◴[14 Apr 25 19:48 UTC] No.43685483[source]▶
I found it difficult to learn and understand the fundamentals if I don't really work on the aspects.

I have tried a couple of times to write side projects about interpreter and OS. They were all small projects so I managed to complete them before I burnt out (somehow I always burnt out from my side projects after 2-3 months and have to pause for another 3 months to get into something new). But I don't think the knowledge sticks with me.

I mean, maybe part of them did, but I just can't see why I'd use them in my work. It is sometimes very demoralizing to realize that I burnt out myself multiple times for nothing.

I think the most important thing, is to figure out how to get into a position without the knowledge to do it -- I know it sounds stupid, but many excellent developers managed to get that perk and learnt profoundly in just a few months than I did in my 7 years.