Ohh look, another tutorial... i'd better do that one as well

I’m sure a good few folk have seen the title, and fallen into the same trap as myself…

You have a strange niggling feeling in the back of your head, that you just aren’t quite ready to build things on your own…

You scrolling through the many courses on Udemy, like a crack addict looking for your next fix (did that go too dark??)

you feel like the next video course might just be the ‘one to answer all your questions’

but the trouble is…

…you know yourself that after a few hours into the course, you ask yourself why am i doing this again, i should be creating something!

but then you start to doubt yourself…

Rinse and repeat…

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haha! well played, i do love this video, its entertaining but still carries a valid point!

Go ahead and start making a project. Even if you’re not ready to finish it, you’re ready to start it, and the only way to learn how to finish it is to start it.

Done is better than perfect.

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I’d pick something small and commit to finishing it. What’s the worst thing that can happen? You’ll get stuck at times. No big deal. Struggling through it is time very well spent, better spent than watching another tutorial. Right now I’m working on a humble todo app myself (first non-FCC project) and enjoying it. You can do it!

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Aaaaaaaaaannnnnd it hits close. I thought that i am lonely on this topic…huge relief.
I watched a LOT of tuts and found really good ones, learned a lot but i never felt that “now, lets build some stuff” because i felt lost, like, what can i do with pure JS only? How can i build and connect few technologies that i have read about in those courses?Not until recently…
You know what? I stopped with doubts. Why? I will get there, just need to relax…if you can google your way through some of the challenges, connect the dots and find a solution to your problem…well, you can build that app, website or what not. You just need to feel comfortable with yourself and dive in and USE that knowledge in your favor. I am at JS part with FCC and it is final “tutorial”, no more tuts and its traps. I am building stuff already while i learn, that is the beauty of it. You can do this! (eye of the tiger intensifies)

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So, addiction to Udemy does actually exist?? Well, thank goodness someone has to say it because I thought I was alone on this and also do feel ashamed! :see_no_evil:

Anyway, I am in this same position of where I have learned through so many tutorials, yet when it comes to starting to build it on my own, I go into freeze position. This is mostly on JS by the way,

However, I found another JS tutorial course, which did actually help me. Yes, it was boring when having to learn the concepts (because I have learned them far too many times), however, the instructor made one good point at the beginning of the course. He noticed that every time he sees a JS tutorial, they will teach the basic concepts of JS and when it comes to doing a tutorial project, they are too advanced or too big to learn, especially it gets overwhelming when it is encouraged to do it on your own as a challenge.

So, what the instructor did was doing only one project, which is to do a todo list and use as many concepts, that had been taught. This is exactly what helped. Yes, this means another tutorial, but for me, it was a starting point to start doing something small on my own and gradually build it up from there. Because of it, I learned to do a simple create-your-own-sandwich-filling project by myself (boring, I know) :slight_smile:

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It’s like when I was at school watching math videos to solve the tasks and tests at hand and pass the subject with a perfect 100 (or A+). Once I was done with the superficial learning material consumption I forgot most of it in less than a year. And when I needed it again I had to re-review it all.

I don’t mean that re-reviewing isn’t a thing because it absolutely is; especially in this industry where even the greatest dev of all time forgets simple syntax or algos like “how to sort a list in scala” or “how to write a promise in javascript”. But in order to actually absorb resources better is to practise a lot and build challenging projects that require you to seek help and research like there’s no tomorrow.

It’s pretty fulfilling to actually build something or achieve something you thought impossible for your previous skill level.

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if you want more entertaining and powerful I suggest 2 measures of this each morning and midday. Reduce the amount with time in order to eventually take 1 shot/week as an in-depth treatment (more efficient on monday mornings)

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just passing , anyhows, its still worthy to try one more time.maybe this time its time!:blush:

I needed this today! Many thanks. Positive energy rules!!!

Did you find anything good on nodeJS or DJango that you would suggest.
I feel like i am swimming in the ocean.
Besides,What your personal favourite tech for BackEnd.

There is no need to feel ashamed )))
I also love udemy tutorials and have many of them. And imo its great way to learn coding and technology.
I think after 20 coding along projects some JS concepts can become a “second nature”, so you can do some stuff with your own projects.
It is absolutelly ok even for experienced programmers to code along with some hard and complicated projects.

I’m the opposite - I find tutorials dull and usually end up trying to build something slightly complicated long before I’ve finished For some reason my head will come up with an idea and I can’t rest until that idea is reality.

However FCC has been good to rein me in slightly and now I’m on JavaScript I’m more content.

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I am sure there are developers who are on an infinite streak of follow alongs and are unable to escape that, however, one could argue that they’re clinging with a reason, they might enjoy the idea they’re involved with programming by endlessly watching tutorials etc, meaning they’re not really willing to progress and achieve a more competent state.

I certainly took pleasure merely from the idea that I’m “programming”, i.e: learning new stuff and being engaged in courses/tutorials etc.

However, that is not enough if you want to actually find a job, some small portion of people make it with under 8 months of learning, but they are really, really a minority, while lots of people either quit programming altogether, don’t apply, apply and stop applying for another year etc…

I started applying after about 8 months I started learning, I had 0 interviews, even tried applying through a friend who work in IT company. I quit programming for few months, and then when I got back, I laughed at my own portfolio that I was applying with.

If I was recruited, I’d be falling into that minority group, and if I’d make a post about it, hundreds of aspiring junior developers would be encouraged and inspired that IT IS possible, however, they’re most likely to crash and face “cruel” reality.

Luckily, I did not stop working as a Social Worker to pursue my passions. That would be stupid. I have a family, a responsibility.
After analysing possibilities, I figured that I’m probably somewhat lucky I was not recruited.

Why?
Most IT companies in Israel, work Sisyphean hours:
I’d have to leave house at 7 A.M and come back home at 7 P.M
I’d have 1 hour with my baby, barely, I won’t have any energy for my wife whatsoever.
I’d have, however, a much higher paycheck that would, presumably, make us happier. Yes, it most likely will, however, with the sacrifices mentioned - it won’t!

Anyways, I went bit off-topic,
I decided, I’m going to keep programming because I really enjoy it. I started programming for myself.

I programmed a job scraper for my wife when she was looking for a job in a specific field of expertise, the script would send her daily email with relevant jobs. AWESOME!!

I learned along the way, I explored tutorials that I needed, to get the job done, I wasn’t mindlessly learning new stuff, at some point it becomes inefficient and pointless.

The point is: Find something interesting enough for you to work on.
Next, I started working on a project for saving cooking recipes and tracking last time they were cooked, so my wife can see the list and see what recipes she hasn’t cooked in a while.
I ended up screwing up because I tried adding WAYYYY TOO MANY FEATURES and thought to make it for other people too, I ended up overwhelmed and stopped working on it.

Now, I’m working on a jobs aggregator website to show Junior Only Jobs for devs like us, See, I don’t follow specific tutorials, I just try to build something and if I need anything, I google it.

To Conclude:

  1. Find something interesting & useful to build, set goals, be organised ( Trello/notion ), and enjoy!

  2. Stop/postpone watching tutorials that are not useful to your current projects

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