Continuing education is important to maintain one's skills, so much so that it's mentioned in the ACM Code of Ethics. Finding better ways to develop software, whether techniques/processes or tools/technologies, is beneficial to the organization. In addition, continual learning is beneficial to one's personal state of mind. Conferences (what is EOL/CDS policy on attendance?), courses, and user groups provide good social exposure. Online resources often provide the most currency. Reading code is a useful and important way to improve skills, as is reading books (and reading books about reading code).
Cheezburger Network Doesn't Show Its New Employees the Bathroom Until They've Checked In Code
EOL wiki pages:
The EOL Software Engineering Wiki is an internal resource which only allows authorized access. It has details on specific tools, libraries, and hardware in use in EOL.
Recommended reading:
Meyers, Scott. Effective C: 50 Specific Ways to Improve Your Programs and Design.
Gamma, Helm, Johnson, Vlissides. Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software.
