A technique I use whenever I need to learn a new language is to write the
same application I already have in another language.  I generally choose
downloading nzbs from usenet as it can involve a number of interesting
programming techniques, at least enough to give you a pretty good idea of
how a language handles things like:

* threading and work queues (downloading files concurrently)
* socket io (writing a simple nntp client)
* xml processing (parsing nzb files)
* binary encoding/decoding (yenc implementation)
* curses style ui
* web ui
* command line arguments
* configuration
* signal handling
* testing (haha kidding)

TBH I usually get about 50% of the way through and have enough of a handle
on the language at that point to abandon my efforts and move on.

On Wed, Mar 26, 2014 at 7:22 PM, Daniel Higginbotham <nonrecurs...@gmail.com
> wrote:

> Chiming in a bit late, but here was my path:
>
> * Read "Land of Lisp" by Conrad Barski. This was my first real contact
> with lisp and functional programming. I found it challenging, but the book
> is well-written and the technique of teaching through writing games was
> perfect for me. It uses common lisp which is almost baroque compared to
> Clojure, but it was helpful later in getting a better sense of Clojure's
> roots. Also, most of the classic lisp books out there use common lisp
> * Tried to write my own web-based game using common lisp. This was true
> fun and I learned a ton
> * Read "On Lisp" by Paul Graham. It is an excellent book
> * Was introduced to Clojure through a talk given by Alan Dipert at my
> workplace
> * Learned Clojure by skipping around Clojure in Action, Programming
> Clojure, and Clojure Programming. Settled on Clojure Programming.
> * projecteuler.net has been a good help
> * I've been teaching Clojure to folks at work, which forces me to deeply
> understand the material
> * At the same time, I've kept building little web apps to solidify my
> knowledge. One of them, http://gratefulplace.com, is actually used :)
>
> I feel like I know enough to get stuff done, but there's still so much
> more to learn. Most recently I've been brushing up on math/logic so that I
> can better understand the more mathy texts whenever I encounter them.
>
>
> On Thursday, March 20, 2014 9:08:41 PM UTC-4, Marcus Blankenship wrote:
>>
>> Hi Folks,
>>
>> I'm a post technical PM who's fascinated by Clojure, and want to learn
>> it, but am having a hard time without a "real" project to work on. It's
>> actually excited me so much I'm considering hanging up my PM hat and diving
>> back in the "programmer pool" again!
>>
>> My problem appears to be 1) focus, and 2) fear. Focus because I can't
>> (yet) earn a living on a clojure project, so it must be done during "off
>> hours". Fear because it's harder and more different than the old OO
>> languages I've used in the past.
>>
>> So I'm curious: how did you learn Clojure well enough to be proficient
>> with it, or how are you working on learning it?
>>
>> Anyone else facing the focus + fear dilemma?
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>
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