Specific advice: read, study, and practice SICP: http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/ http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/ http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering

Specific advice: read, study, and practice SICP: http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/ http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/ http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-001-structure-and-interpretation-of-computer-programs-spring-2005/video-lectures/ http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-comput... It's a book that will permanently upgrade your perspective on creating software, in a way that's language-agnostic. To start, get and install MIT-Scheme and Emacs, then follow along with the videos. And/or dive into the book and do the exercises.