Learning Programming

How long did it take you to really learn how to program?

learning how to PROGRAM takes no time at all. the languages these days though have a large number of APIs. take java for example, tons of built in shit. learning to program in java is going to take a considerably less amount of time than memorizing all these APIs. you see where im going with this? a lot of languages today are more about learning built in APIs than learning how to use the language itself.