The first study I know of is the 1996 book "The Road to Excellence" http://www.amazon.com/Road-Excellence-Acquisition-Performance-Sciences/dp/0805822321 http://

The first study I know of is the 1996 book "The Road to Excellence" http://www.amazon.com/Road-Excellence-Acquisition-Performance-Sciences/dp/0805822321 http://www.amazon.com/Road-Excellence-Acquisition-Performanc... . I got it after I read Peter Norvig's essay on "Teach Yourself Programming in 10 Years." http://norvig.com/21-days.html http://norvig.com/21-days.html . So here are the numbers, in short, for mastery: It takes about 10k hours of practice. It takes about 10 years. That means about 3 hours of practice everyday. Everyday.