Most of my knowledge on hacking came from doing research online. I usually only read up on stuff when I come across an encryption I can't decipher. Most game files (like .CPK for PSP, .bin, etc.) already have programs that can extract them, so I suggest keeping a stock of extraction tools. Debugging tools and hex editors are also useful, especially when decrypting files or locating specific files.
Your knowledge on coding will be useful for making your own decryption tool (when you can't find one that can do the job) and making game trainers (which is usually a last resort when you really can't decrypt the file, so you overwrite them in the process memory).
You'll slowly learn more techniques as you hack more games. xD