>Studying MSDN on the whole topic. From examples, FAQ up to the detailed level of properties, events and methods. Further the analysis from others on various forums.

>I realize that everyone's mental processes are different - but I will say that in the past, I've done the same thing, but it wasn't until I started doing actual experimentation that the light bulbs truly came on.

Yep, you're right, my mental process is different. I'm specifically looking for ways to solve certain puzzles, rather than trying to absorb every little thing in there. There is no need to question the obvious, just learn how it handles something more difficult. The main answer I've got from those puzzles was: You'll do that on the SQL server..... buzzz, wrong answer.

>Examples....I was reading WCF for months, but it wasn't until after I started creating some demos of my own that I felt comfortable talking about it. Same thing with .NET Generics, and actually even more so. While there's good content on Generics on the web, a large % of online articles are repetitive, very basic, and really don't describe the true power. It took a few months of experimenting for me to get a handle on it.

And why should it take so long? And this is a serious question. Why does it take so long to capture a prinicple. I can understand it takes a little while to be comfortable with every little aspect of it, but the concept should be crystal clear in a blink of an eye.