It made me better understand how Rust works and how it is designed, and in doing so, it really untangled how borrowing/ownership works.
I liken it to paint a tree, full of leaves which obscure its branches. I might never paint the branches, but understanding how the branches are shaped will help me draw a better tree.
This was in tandem with reading the Rust book, being active in the IRC, and writing programs to learn! The Rustonomicon just happened to have what I needed.
