[Bleicke]

That dude is right. Reading about C++, Regex, Linux, etc. doesn't do ****. You have to practice it! Programming is all try and error and experience.

So get a nice little programming job and make sure to switch around some different projects in your time, not get stuck on a big one. This way you learn more. After 3 months on a project, you know all the tools involved. You can then switch.

Also, how many books do you want to read?!

I read about 1 page in a minute, meaning 60 an hour. If you really want to read like it was a job, meaning 40 hours a week, that would be 50*40 = 2000 hours, or 2000*60 pages! That's a whopping 120000 pages or 400 average books (300 pages each). Nobody can remember that much information without using it.