Not bad advice, but to get a feel before you dive into the deep end, use the libraries and then, by all means, follow this advice. You should always know what'

Not bad advice, but to get a feel before you dive into the deep end, use the libraries and then, by all means, follow this advice. You should always know what's underlying the functionality a library provides, but don't hesitate to start simple. I remember "C++ Neural Networks and Fuzzy Logic" at 16 and being intimidated because I had to develop and understand the code without having a background in statistics, calculus, or linear algebra. Don't let it intimidate you.