Getting to the next level

[DriXnaK]

I'm trying to increase my skill level in programming. Since my daily job doesn't really force me to learn anything new and doesn't challenge me, I created a new side project for myself that includes everything from SSRS reporting to Entity Framework and MVC 4. I've run across plenty of things I don't know, and I've spent many hours now researching and trying to figure things out. I've come to the conclusion I don't really know jack**** at this point. What the hell is a provider? Factory? I have a fuzzy abstract idea of what these do, but I can't imagine rolling my own and when people talk on forums about extending methods and overriding the .net framework I get lost. So, my question is how do you learn this stuff? Is it just a war of attrition where you continually expose yourself to new things and force your way through it? Any books that dive into the finer points and nuances of programming? I especially want to be able to read the documentation on a class and method and understand it instantly to the point where I can use it fluently and be able to visualize how it fits in a project. Thoughts?

[onodera]

You should read the patterns book by Gamma et al and another book about inversion of control. And yes, if you aren't constantly exposed to new stuff you are left behind. I'm stuck at .net 2.0 myself, with some LINQ experience added.