Have you ever tried returning to a programming language or tool after not using it for a while?

A year or even a few months?

When I need to reuse a tool that I did not master in the past, I feel like that knowledge has evaporated. Maybe not entirely, but most of it.

This often happens to me when I start working on a project. There's always some tech I used a while ago that I barely remember how it works.

The project I am working on these days uses Kubernetes, which I last used briefly around 2020.

At that time, I took an online course (Kubernetes 101 by Nigel Poulton), and I partially read the book Kubernetes Up and Running.

I grasped the main concepts, like Pods, Deployments and Services. I even wrote the post Eighteen questions to check your Kubernetes knowledge.

Since then, in my daily job as a Ruby engineer, I haven't had many opportunities to tinker with Kubernetes.

Simply put, I didn't practice those new skills, so they quickly faded away.

Apart from my practical need, I am quite motivated since Kubernetes is widely adopted in large companies and in start-ups (often via managed solutions provided by AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure).

Here's my approach to refresh my knowledge of Kubernetes.

• I took the course Boot.dev - Learn Kubernetes, which is very practical. To complete the course sections, I had to complete some tests, often involving writing and editing YAML files representing Kubernetes resources.

• I created flashcards and reviewed them using a spaced-repetition system. As often happens, after I finish a course, I lose most of that knowledge pretty quickly if I don't practice. So, I created many flashcards about Kubernetes concepts. I use Anki daily for 15 minutes to review some of the cards.

The key concept behind Anki and spaced-repetition systems, in general, is that the information is reviewed right before it's about to be forgotten. The time intervals between reviews gradually increase since forgetting is a function of time (not the only factor, but time is the main one).

If you are interested, here is my Kubernetes Deck on GitHub.

Consider that studying with flashcards is more effective when you create your own cards. That's because of the mental effort and time required to create the right questions and answers for your flashcards.