It's not a problem being jealous if it brings something positive at the end.. you learn, you try, to advance...

if at the opposite you try to break someone else's work just because you hate to be on a lower grade, this is not good.

as you said, you TRY... you will gain a lot by trying. but as i said, there is only one way... when you open a code, read the functions you do not understand by visiting php.net ... there is always a lot of documented comments for each function, and most of the time very efficient snipets of codes.