Watch, Learn, Do, Decide

I have this concept whenever I need to decide if something new is good or not for me.

First I watch or read about the idea.  Then I study more about it. Then I do it for a relatively long time. Then I decide if it is good or not for me, that I should drop it all or I can adopt parts of it in my life.

This applies exceptionally well to new programming techniques.

At work, at Syneto, we usually do things for about 6 months before we decide.  But those are big things.  They affect a bunch of people.

In my personal life I scale down. Both the discovered things and the time for doing. Still, I always make sure I don't decide too early.

Recently I was invited to a new developers forum in my country. And after just one day,  I am amazed how many people jump over the learn and do part. They only watch and decide.

I believe the only way to decide upon a thing is by past experience. But you need to build that experience yourself. You can't avoid it, at least not for a long time.