I learn it backwards. Take something slightly complicated (so much so that you find it challenging to read) that solves a problem that you understand. Then thi

I learn it backwards. Take something slightly complicated (so much so that you find it challenging to read) that solves a problem that you understand. Then think of a feature or modification that you think would be useful. Try and implement it. It's incredibly painful but I find this works better than trying to build something from 'hello world'. Before you know it, you can understand why stuff was implemented that way and what not.