Fastest way to learn D?

[Chris]

On Tuesday, 15 October 2013 at 20:31:54 UTC, John Colvin wrote:
> On Tuesday, 15 October 2013 at 20:25:06 UTC, Chris wrote:
>> On Tuesday, 15 October 2013 at 18:36:19 UTC, John Colvin wrote:
>>> On Tuesday, 15 October 2013 at 18:32:59 UTC, Craig Dillabaugh 
>>> wrote:
>>>> On Tuesday, 15 October 2013 at 18:25:48 UTC, Dejan Lekic 
>>>> wrote:
>>>>> On Tue, 15 Oct 2013 20:13:45 +0200, ProgrammingGhost wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> What is the fastest way for me to learn D? I think what I 
>>>>>> want is a
>>>>>> syntax reference manual and a good tutorial to learn how 
>>>>>> to find and use
>>>>>> libs.
>>>>>
>>>>> I learned D by doing two things.
>>>>>
>>>>> 1) Downloading the bundled DMD in a ZIP file.
>>>>>
>>>>> 2) Reading the language reference at http://www.dlang.org 
>>>>> (back then it
>>>>> was on DigitalMars website...)
>>>>>
>>>>> That is all you really need.
>>>>>
>>>>> Now I would suggest reading the D Wiki as well. ;)
>>>>
>>>> You really learned D from the online language reference?  
>>>> Thats hard core!  You must be much smarter than me.
>>>>
>>>> I suggested reading the Phobos docs online, but I was just 
>>>> joking.
>>>
>>> I did too. I don't see it as particularly 
>>> hard/only-for-smart-people, I just built simple programs and 
>>> slowly looked up what I needed as I went along. A lot of help 
>>> from people here and on IRC helped as well of course.
>
>> it's a good idea to stay on this forum and check the API 
>> regularly. If you do this, you will not only learn D, but also 
>> get a deeper understanding of programming related problems 
>> (and possible solutions) in general.
>
> Very true. I have learnt a huge amount about programming in 
> general by trying to keep up with the more experienced members 
> here. All the discussions about the future of different 
> language features etc. has been a fantastic education.

It has also changed my awareness while writing code. Instead of 
doing things the traditional way (like in Java, Objective-C 
etc.), I often ask myself whether there is a different, i.e. more 
D-like, way of doing things. In this way, I have to really think 
about the pros and cons of different approaches rather than 
following standard patterns. At the same time, D doesn't force 
you to follow a certain path.