How little streams of knowledge converge, generating joy

The rewarding moments of studying are those when we realize new applications for previously learned knowledge. Tonight I had to skip taocp and read the Dragon book (_the_ compilers book), because I'm attending a compilers course at the university. So the topic was syntax directed definitions and attribute grammars, and among other things, it discussed the evaluation order of node attributes of a syntax tree with attribute dependence edges already in place. It was immediately obvious that by topologically sorting the graph we can find a valid evaluation order.

In computer science studies, it's not always very clear what the real applications for the techniques presented are. This was one of the happy moments when previously learned knowledge came in to good use.

I remember my history studies in senior high, when it first felt difficult to understand some of the reasons behind historical facts. In the end, after all courses, the little streams of knowledge finally converged and started to explain each other. Understanding is vital in studying, because when you understand something, you don't have to be a good memorizer. It's enough to remember the main points actively, and then you can reconstruct the the rest by deduction.

My advice to fellow students is: don't think reading as memorizing, think it as understanding. This way you won't need to read anything twice.