I too find that the best way for me to really learn a programming language is to use it, though I do begin by reading documentation. First, this familiarizes m

I too find that the best way for me to really learn a programming language is to use it, though I do begin by reading documentation. First, this familiarizes me with the language constructs, what is and what isn't available, and I can build up a "mental diff" of how this new language is or is not like other languages I already know. Perhaps more importantly, it also gives me a clue as to if I should bother spending my time to really learn the language well. For example, I've tinkered with Ruby, and read some Ruby documentation. It appears to be a fine language, but I don't see it offering me anything that I find lacking from Python or Lisp. So I've never taken the time to become expert with Ruby.