How important is it to understand the mechanics of programming languages? Assuming that is important, how much quicker are you going to learn it this way compared to any other method?
I agree with this statement in isolation but it ignores the fact that huge effort has already been put into learning the low-level so you ultimately are putting in the same (or similar) effort.
Code:
learning effort
low -> high big -> small
high -> low medium -> medium
Thing is that if you learn by actually trying to write what you want to write you can actually achieve something while you learn.