I like 3 different kinds of programming literature for different reasons and approach them differently. 1. Dense reference material. I read this cover to cover

I like 3 different kinds of programming literature for different reasons and approach them differently. 1. Dense reference material. I read this cover to cover, because every time I read it I am guaranteed to learn something because it's more than I could ever hope to learn at once. 2. Theoretical CS texts (and programming philosophy/methodology). I follow along if it makes sense to, on paper or with whatever programming language seems like the best fit. 3. Examples/Tutorials I skim these, since I'll just cherry pick them for the concepts I need/want to know. I might read in depth for understanding of a tricky portion or extract something clever and play with it.. but finding the right examples is so hard that I tend to look at a lot of examples and not spend too much time on thought that don't meet a threshold. So when I approach a book or other guided learning material, I'll read cover to cover to get an overview of something but I'll apply each of the 3 modes above to its various types of content. Good dense reference material is like gold though. I read as much of it as I can. I wish I could find more of it for things I'm interested in that isn't the f@#!ing source, because that takes longer to read from end to end. Specs, API references, generated docs.. you're guaranteed to learn something.