When you say "learn", I am assuming you mean getting to the point where you can apply the knowledge. It sounds like the problem you are trying to solve is to decrease this "learning" time and not so much increase your retention of information.
I haven't done any kernel development, I'm assuming it's highly technical and you get can't skim through materials.
I think if you are able to painstakingly go through technical documentation, that is a special ability. My guess is it probably sets you apart from many devs.
Getting a big picture is a great idea as you build a mental map of important topic areas to cover and gives you some form of mental motivation or direction. Better if someone has already done this, so you can save your time.
For more technical subject matter though, those fine details make a big difference when trying to apply it. I don't know if there is a way to avoid doing that. Skimming things I find wastes a lot of time because when you try to actually build you get stuck because of some important detailed buried on page X paragraph Y.
Some other areas of development aren't as intense so you can get away with not knowing everything and be able to build something pretty impressive.
For dense technical information, my method is to take research-like notes, cross-referenced in my note-taking app and improve these notes over time. I save time by not re-learning and re-searching supporting materials.
I haven't done any kernel development, I'm assuming it's highly technical and you get can't skim through materials.
I think if you are able to painstakingly go through technical documentation, that is a special ability. My guess is it probably sets you apart from many devs.
Getting a big picture is a great idea as you build a mental map of important topic areas to cover and gives you some form of mental motivation or direction. Better if someone has already done this, so you can save your time.
For more technical subject matter though, those fine details make a big difference when trying to apply it. I don't know if there is a way to avoid doing that. Skimming things I find wastes a lot of time because when you try to actually build you get stuck because of some important detailed buried on page X paragraph Y.
Some other areas of development aren't as intense so you can get away with not knowing everything and be able to build something pretty impressive.
For dense technical information, my method is to take research-like notes, cross-referenced in my note-taking app and improve these notes over time. I save time by not re-learning and re-searching supporting materials.