[mattbrewsbytes]

If you have a background with a Computer Science degree, it makes it easier. One of the later courses in the program I had was assembly programming. Everyone said this was the class that weeded out people. I found it easy because there were only so many ways to do things and you really begin to understand how computers work at the lowest software level possible.

Once you have a basis of data structures, object-oriented programming, and an understanding of libraries in one area (say web programming with Java Servlets) then learning another language is just a matter of building something and reading the API docs as you go.

Try re-writing something not trivial but not overly huge to learn the differences between old and new. After a while they all look the same, regardless of how trendy or hip something might be.