As I posted over there: If I'm studying a particular programming environment, I start with the basics. Usually printing and formatting messages, file I/O, basi

As I posted over there: If I'm studying a particular programming environment, I start with the basics. Usually printing and formatting messages, file I/O, basic calculations, variable usage, method usage. I then combine it all together to make something more coherent. For example, I might learn to add 1 + 1, then I'll print it. Then store in a variable, then learn to manipulate that variable, re-print it, then learn to store it in a file, read and write to that file, and so forth. The reasons I start out so basic are: These are fundamental concepts I already understand from other languages, so I know what they should do and how they should work; It gets me accustomed to the basic structure of the language. Do they want ( or )? Do they want { or }?; It allows me to get a feel for the flow of logic. In addition to this, if I'm reading up on a new fundamental topic (I'm a systems/networking engineer by trade), I start out by reading documentation. I read the documentation for multiple platforms, both Windows and Linux. For some stuff it's easier to learn from one or the other. Microsoft generally has better documentation for a Windows user, but sometimes the Linux documentation is easier to grasp the fundamentals first. I read the documentation for about 1-2 hours per day, put it down, think about it, post comments on it (whether or not I'm right or wrong, but I also ask for feedback). I then read it some more in the next day or the following days. After I feel like I've got a grasp of how it works, I'll try and implement it to clear up some of the last confusion with it. Depending on how much confusion, I usually jump all the way, but knowing how to tread water first is helpful before drowning :P