For some reason, I don't have an edit link for this post anymore, but I can answer this right now. All of these responses are exactly what I was looking for, and then some. As far as the phrasing, I'm equally interested in direct advice like "read this paper", and personal stories. I've always been able to intuit how to go about learning any given topic in computing, whether languages, game programming, HTTP, Win32, or what have you. I don't know exactly why this subject in particular seems more esoteric to me - probably a product of my background - but it does. I wanted to know how others learned. Before this thread, my best answer would have been "Get a job at Amazon or Google as a front-end dev, and try to work my way into the back end." Now I have papers to read, algorithms to learn, topics to explore, and ideas about setting up a toy environment for learning. So yes, all of the answers are definitely helping, and I hope a few more people will add their stories. A big thank you to everyone.