Sometimes, in order to understand something, you just have to start trying it.

By trying it I mean you need to start coding it - with an IDE. You need to run/debug it. You need to see how it behaves as you change things. Sometimes you need to do all of this simply to understand some new concept (new to you).

I’ve had problems in the past where I would read and read and read, for hours, days, even weeks, on a topic, and make very slow progress. Some topics are just too abstract to be understand via reading or someone telling you. You just need to start doing, actual doing (run/debug).