Learning Phases

I have a book about shell scripting and some sample code. Now what?

Most script writers follow this learning curve:

1. Code-stealing phase. The script writer begins using script code that others have written. She's afraid to change anything because she's still figuring out what the code does. She's not sure whether she'll ever be able to understand this stuff.
2. Experimentation phase. The script writer begins to modify others' code to see what happens. She has some successes and some failures. She begins to see the power of scripting and is mesmerized watching commands running in the command-shell window.
3. Reading-the-book-again phase. The script writer begins to assemble her own code. She's euphoric when code runs successfully and is mesmerized by commands running in a window that isn't the default black color.
4. Addiction phase. The script writer has scripted solutions to all the problems in her area and goes looking for other problems to solve by writing scripts. She has several shortcuts on her desktop so that several scripts can run simultaneously in different-colored windows.
5. Publication phase. The script writer solves a problem that she thinks no one has ever solved before (she might be right) and writes a Reader to Reader piece for Windows 2000 Magazine.

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