rambl30n

This. Although said tongue-in-cheek, is a basic principle. Once you understand the concept and the mechanics behind something, what rote learning buys you is to free cycles in the future so that you can take up the next-level task. Skipping this step is like expecting someone to play the piano just by learning how to read a music sheet and where each note is in the keyboard. You build up your muscle memory so that you're able to take on more complex pieces as you progress.

If you know C, C++ Common Knowledge (https://www.amazon.com/Common-Knowledge-Essential-Intermedia...) will give you a quick run of the gotchas you're to avoid. From there, move to Scott Meyer's books, which will give you some good foundational knowledge on how features of the language work together. In particular I like that each concept is presented in a bite-sized chapter that you can read in a couple of hours and think about for the rest of the day. Even though the first two are about "classic C++" I wouldn't skip them. For a glimpse of the true power of modern C++, check the Boost Hana library docs, hopefully this will serve you as motivation to keep on going. Above all, don't do this alone. The compiler errors that you get once you start applying modern (template) techniques can be a bit of a rabbit hole and takes a bit to get an eye for deciphering them. Lean on coworkers, local user groups and/or the C++ slack group which is pretty supportive. Best of luck.