As part of my learning journey, I’ve been using several subscriptions. In this post, I’ll share my experiences with three of them in 2024:

1. ACM Skills Bundle Add-On
2. Heptabase
3. AWS Skills Builder

# ACM Skills Bundle Add-On

This subscription is definitely worth the money! For a one-year subscription, I paid $99 USD for an ACM membership and an additional $75 USD for the Skills Bundle, which includes collections from O’Reilly, Pluralsight, and Skillsoft Percipio. While the bundle is collection-based, I found the content to be highly comprehensive and up-to-date.

For instance, I had access to early releases of new O’Reilly books, and I rarely encountered a published O’Reilly book that wasn’t available. The O’Reilly collection covers not only software engineering but also fields like management and finance. Considering that an individual O’Reilly subscription costs $499 USD per year, the ACM Skills Bundle offers incredible value.

Pluralsight, on the other hand, has a more limited selection in this bundle. Most of the courses available were from 2–3 years ago, and features like sandboxes were not included. As for Skillsoft Percipio, I didn’t use it much, so I can’t provide a thorough review.

I would say if ACM Skills Bundle Add-On keeps the current offering, I will definitely renew it next year, which I’ve already done for 2025.

# Heptabase

Note-taking has been a big part of my learning journey. I used Evernote in the past and have been using Notion for a long time. However, as my notes grew, I found the ‘cascading’ structure overwhelming. While Notion allows you to break notes into separate pages, navigating between them isn’t always smooth.

I discovered Heptabase in 2024 as a note-taking tool. It features a graph-based system that lets you create notes on a large whiteboard and connect them like a mind map. Each note appears as a card that you can move between different boards. You can see an example of my Heptabase board here, where I took notes on the book Secret Skills of Productive Programmers¹.

Another feature I particularly like about Heptabase is its seamless syncing across devices, allowing me to take notes on my phone and continue working on my laptop.

I wouldn’t consider Heptabase a complete replacement for Notion, but it’s an excellent tool for taking notes in a more visual way. If I want to add a side note to an existing note, I can simply create a new card and link it. But in Notion, it would require extra indentation or a separate page.

The Heptabase community is also very active; you can explore various use cases and the product roadmap in their Discord. If this sounds interesting to you, feel free to use my invite to join😉

# AWS Skills Builder

This subscription was offered by my company, Shipcloud, which I joined in 2024. I first learned about AWS Skills Builder at AWS Summit 2024 in Berlin and was excited to see an official learning platform from AWS, so I decided to give it a try. The activation process took a bit longer than expected, as the subscription needed to be linked to an AWS account. This step had to be handled by my company’s AWS administrator.

I enjoyed the courses, which were created by AWS instructors and featured clear explanations and examples. The hands-on experience was particularly valuable to me in a cloud learning platform. A highlight was AWS SimuLearn, where you act as a consultant to translate business problems into AWS solutions interactively. During conversations with customers, you articulate the appropriate AWS services to meet their needs. I found it quite engaging to practice real-world scenarios and apply my knowledge to solve problems. Additionally, there are typical labs where you can follow instructions to build an application.

# Summary

• ACM Skills Bundle Add-On: For those looking to access O’Reilly books, this subscription is a great deal.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Heptabase: A great tool for visual note-taking, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes mind mapping.
• AWS Skills Builder offers top-notch content, and AWS SimuLearn enables you to apply your knowledge to real-world scenarios in an engaging, game-like manner.

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