[Zope] A few questions from a newbie

[azbok@yahoo.com]

I would just like to say hi all to the zope community.  I was 
previously using Mason (which I still like) and found zope and it 
looks *GREAT*!  

I'm quite the newbie though and have a few questions (I have been 
reading the online books for like a week now and still confused)  I 
did see some previous messages in this group, but the answers didn't 
help me :(

I have zope (2.3.3-1) and a few other modules.  I'm using the older 
version because I'm using debian using apt-get, thats the version 
that's available.

1) How long would you say it takes to really become proficient with 
zope?

2) Is it possible to create a variable using DTML and then access it?
If so, what would the syntax be?

3) I read about Zope Page Templates (ZPL).  Should I just go with
that and not bother with DTML?

4) My main question.  I have a Z SQL method which takes a parameter.  
It works using the Test tab.  I get it to work thru DTML too.  How do 
I properly pass a parameter to it using Python?

I try something like:
   context['MyZSQLMethod'](MyParam=1)

It might be right for all I know, but even if it is I dunno what to
do with it.  How would I loop thru the data it returns?

Thanks greatly for any feedback from you mighty gurus out there :)
Azbok