Nice question. So i am a self-taught developer and all these awesome webpages out there helped me really a lot. There are so many treasures online so there is no excuse if we really want to evolve and thrive.
When i started i couldn't afford paying some memberships so i was using only free ones like:
After a couple of years i realized that i should invest more in my personal development / knowledge since i could afford it. In general i always say to myself how do you expect others to pay for your skills if you are not really determined to make them sharp? I did it and it paid me off by far.
Some webpages i have active membership:
So i have a studying pattern and every morning while drinking my 1st coffee and every night after i put my kids to bed i study at least 1 article or watch a couple of tutorials.
I try a lot also to be an active member across some webpages that offer social networking. I found out that these webpages keep me updated for latest news and technologies and i can have real-time conversations with some gurus out there. These are:
I remember myself sending a tweet wondering about ReactJS event handlers and stateless components because i have read almost everywhere that this kills performance. I always search for best practices and patterns so this was in my alert-list. Some minutes later Dan Abramov himself answered and clarified the whole thing:
This is so cool right. Really fast learning!!!
Sometimes i find myself searching for hours on github.com reading other people code and checking under the hood for best practices and patterns. Most of the times i prefer studying real code let's say about Redux for example than reading an article. Everything starts clicking in a matter of seconds by doing so and i don't have to do stupid memorization since i know exactly how it works this or that.
Last but not least, i think the best way to learn something is to write a short article on your own and try to teach other people. There are awesome online platforms with great communities where you can share your ideas:
You 'll be amazed how much this is going to benefit you.
So that's it. Happy learning and thanks for reading!!!!