
Unconventional way of learning a new programming language - Philipp__
https://dev.to/sahildua2305/unconventional-way-of-learning-a-new-programming-language
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paxcoder
TL;DR: Contribute to "open source"

>[code review feedback] is like getting a free-of-cost personal guidance about
how to write good code

It's not free for the reviewer who's trying to safeguard project quality. If
they're investing in you, it's likely under the assumption that you'll
contribute back. If you don't, then you're just crowdsourcing and then running
off with the ill-gained knowledge, possibly having had a negative impact on
the project.

~~~
adamnemecek
Code review happens after the code is written so how could the contributor
"run with ill-gained knowledge".

~~~
paxcoder
NOTE: I've started with 2nd person (to match the article, be more personal and
appeal to the reader's conscience), so I'll be sticking with "you" instead of
"the contributor".

If you're unfamiliar with programming language idioms, it is likely that your
(ultimate, approved) contribution may not be be worth the time and the effort
that has been put into guiding you to it. The help may instead have been given
to you in hopes that it will pay off with your future contributions. If your
only or main motivation is to learn a programming language, there's a greater
chance that there won't be any.

Contributing out of sheer sense of obligation is hard. Even worse, it may so
happen that you realize that you don't even like the language. Not only is the
the time invested in teaching you the project a waste for the project, but the
teaching you the language was not beneficial for other projects written in the
same language. To stay interested in a project, you should be certain of your
interest in some thing intrinsic to the project.

At least be very frank and clear about your intentions.

------
nialv7
A more unconventional (but effective) way would be writing a compiler for the
language you want to learn.

