Making Progress In My Learning Web Applications Development

At the start of this month I emailed about 42 internationally recognized web applications development experts. I got their names and emails from digging around on the net. They spanned all the continents except Africa. I asked them for advice on how to fast-track my web application development learning. Close to half of them replied. And below is a word cloud of their replies.

I was able to breakdown their advice into the following:

1. I should thoroughly learn HTML, CSS and JavaScript
2. I should learn to use Bootstrap
3. I should join the AngularJS bandwagon 
4. I can still use my C# skill, just need to be better at manipulating the backend with it. 
5. I should learn to use Entity framework for my data access
6. I should learn about creating WebAPIs 

And they also gave me advice on how best to learn all these technologies.

1. I should start with a small project and improve it as my competence grows.
2. I should go through the free training on http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/training-topics/web-development  and http://www.asp.net/mvc 
3. I should use my MVP complimentary subscription to http://pluralsight.com/
4. I should focus more on getting things done rather than trying to understand everything first.
5. I should read some great books and reverse engineer some open source projects.

So far I have the following books:

1. Practical Node.js: Building Real-World Scalable Web Apps by Azat Mardan
2. Pro AngularJS (Expert's Voice in Web Development) by Adam Freeman
3. Mastering Web Application Development with AngularJS by Pawel Kozlowski, Peter Bacon Darwin
4. Learning AngularJS for .NET Developers by Alex Pop
5. Step By Step Bootstrap 3: A Quick Guide To Responsive Web Development Using Bootstrap 3 by Riwanto Megosinarso
6. A Software Engineer Learns HTML5, JavaScript and jQuery: A guide to standards-based web applications by Dane Cameron
7. A Smarter Way to Learn JavaScript: The new approach that uses technology to cut your effort in half by Mark Myers
8. Pro ASP.NET MVC 5 (Expert's Voice in ASP.Net) by Adam Freeman
9. Beginning ASP.NET 4.5.1: in C# and VB (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) by Imar Spaanjaars
10. HTML5 for Masterminds, Revised 2nd Edition by J.D. Gauchat
11. Responsive Web Design with HTML5 and CSS3 (Community Experience Distilled) by Ben Frain

I have read about 4 of those books now. My strategy is to read them all without caring to understand everything I read then I will begin replicating as many web projects I can take apart. The reading is mainly to help me avoid the bad programming habits one is sure to pick up if one goes into programming unguided. And to also know what tools I have at my disposal.

It's a big task, especially learning all these constantly changing technologies. The luck I have is that I will be using the skills so my efforts won't be wasted and I already have a fairly deep programming skill. Like most big projects, the beginning is always slow. I remember when I began learning to program Excel, for weeks I wasn't making any significant progress and never imagined that I would someday write Excel programs for a living. So I'm not in a hurry; I'll give it all the time it will take. I have been given a strategy that I'm sure will work so all I need do is to follow the plan.