I certainly learn abstractions better when I have a solid concept to work from. I understand it is a crutch/bridge/scaffold for a true understanding, but such a thing really helps me learn anything. This has been true for me of maths, various programming concepts, human language grammar rules, and on.
I really really dig the power abstractions and abstract thought provide, but for whatever reason, I can't grasp a lot of abstracts without first learning how to apply them to a specific case and working out from there. As I have gotten older, I have been able to see quicker how to apply the abstractions from the initial case study, and regularly can apply abstraction in interesting ways - I am particularly good at seeing where various design patterns can be used on some software we are architecting, and doing the mental refactorings on the fly. Yet when I learn about a new design pattern, I still need to see it in a working piece of code, and preferably a step-by-step transformation to grasp it.
I certainly learn abstractions better when I have a solid concept to work from. I understand it is a crutch/bridge/scaffold for a true understanding, but such a thing really helps me learn anything. This has been true for me of maths, various programming concepts, human language grammar rules, and on.
I really really dig the power abstractions and abstract thought provide, but for whatever reason, I can't grasp a lot of abstracts without first learning how to apply them to a specific case and working out from there. As I have gotten older, I have been able to see quicker how to apply the abstractions from the initial case study, and regularly can apply abstraction in interesting ways - I am particularly good at seeing where various design patterns can be used on some software we are architecting, and doing the mental refactorings on the fly. Yet when I learn about a new design pattern, I still need to see it in a working piece of code, and preferably a step-by-step transformation to grasp it.