I bought a copy after graduating, having seen the serious-looking tomes on the shelves of many TAs and serious people. I was not a very good programmer and I t

I bought a copy after graduating, having seen the serious-looking tomes on the shelves of many TAs and serious people. I was not a very good programmer and I thought possession of this thing would confer a magic aura that would make me look smart and maybe within its pages were incantations I could learn that made me deserve the appearance. I ventured probably past the first 25 pages. This volume and books like it are not for me, I just want to know how to do things, and a deeper understanding for me comes from doing and breaking stuff many times, over time.