[stephen]

Seems like having to choose only one learning/teaching style is a false dicotomy.

E.g. I've been doing software a long time, so like the github guy in OP who liked project based learning, that works really well for me when I basically already know what I'm doing. E.g. I know C-based languages really well, put me on a project with a new language, and I'll pick it up, np. Learning a new language by drilling would be very boring for me.

But if I'm learning something truly new/novel to me, e.g. machine learning or Haskell, where I have zero existing intuition for how it works, then drilling constitute parts is very useful.