@thomasfuchs
When I started seriously learning software dev independently, I couldn't understand why people used libraries so invasive they may as well have been their own languages. I refused to learn things like JQuery and C++ Boost because I just wanted to know the underlying syntax.
I feel I became a more rounded developer going that route, but it made it much harder to get a job. I eventually landed a job by showing pure LAMP knowledge, only to be bait n' switched to using Sharepoint