It´s GOOD TO BE BACK to TUTORIAL PURGATORY

You Can Do This!
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Once I finished the JS Algorithims and Data Structures certification I was sure I was ready to go to “make it” into the real world of building Apps (even if they are small and humble like Calculators and Pomodoros).
But then I stumbled upon React.

I did the challenges. They were significantly difficult than the JS ones but I thought, I´m going to make it the same once I reach the projects like I did with the “Javascript Projects”.

But no sir, I am back to Tutorial Purgatory. Because making this projects using React seems 10x more difficult than in JS. I am back sipping my coffee while I watch somebody code in the comfort of my chair, I am no longer think, I am just a machine copying an stranger on Youtube, and a sweet, dreadful shame creeps up once I click “Run the tests” and I see how beatifully each one start getting green and here we go onto the next tutorial.

It´s Good to be back
to Tutorial Purgatory,
my true place as a fake developer,
my inevitable fate
as a deluded,
Schmuck

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You’re welcome!

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I hate tutorials. I don’t watch them often, and when I do I get bored and stop watching because I get distracted. When I see someone doing something in a tutorial, I try it myself and usually run into issues most of the time, its a huge pain.

Now, I just skip the “tutorial part” of the process and start doing what I want to learn as soon as possible. If you want to learn React, then go start building something with React. If you get stuck, look up what your trying and find specific solutions to what you want to do. Odds are you will get stuck with a lot of things, and need to look up a lot of things but that is expected.

As long as you know enough to have a rough idea of what your doing, you can start. For example, you can’t go make a web-sever using React. But if you want to build a calculator, Facebook clone, or complex UI web app, React can be your tool of choice. Take this further (I need to do X with React), and you should be able to learn as you go, but you only learn what you need rather than trying to soak up everything from a tutorial.

Its not that tutorials are bad, its that the idea “I need a tutorial for this” isn’t the best way to go about things for most people. If you have a great memory, yea its good place to start, but that’s about it. Its a start for most people but is not the answer.
The best way to get experience with something is to use it. Deal with the common issues, handle them, and find the answer(s). Taking this approach will result in being better off than the person who just “watched” someone who went a tutorial without any issues.

I’m not saying taking this approach is easy, rather it is really difficult, and if your not used to failure it gets rough. Failure in getting things going isn’t a bad thing, its a good thing. If you fail 500 times getting something to work, then you learned 500 different ways to overcome an issue, and 500 different ways someone could fail. That’s experience.

Skip the tutorials and go start trying to build what you want. Embrace the failure, learn as you go and good luck! :smile:

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Man everytime I read you inspire me, thanks a lot. You gave me strength with that post

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I have never watched a tutorial. But I found a poll that a majority of learners like to watch them. Maybe it is the ubiquity of YouTube. Maybe it’s a learning preference.

My learning process is lesson/course (one I can read or work through aka FCC or Codecademy, no videos), idea, code, research and cobble together code from any print-tutorials that are related to my idea if needed, code more… keep using goal-technology in projects until whatever it is e.g. React is second nature.

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Tutorials are good for beginners, just dont need to stress over it.
Any updates since may so far?

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Hell yeah, I am building for my first time i first ever full-stack app (nothing to fancy tbh, but i am doing it on my own thats what matters).

Thanks for asking :stuck_out_tongue: Now thinking about it its true that sometimes you lose a lot of time following tutorials but also as you said for begginers its ok, when you are starting you dont have the confidence to start building on your own and tutorials is something you have to do until you trascend them!

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There’s definitely a preference factor. I have learned to watch tutorials with the mindset “and there will be a quiz when we’re done!!!” so I’ll even hit pause and go make a thing myself.
I try not to get lost in the Pavlovian “get more green!” thing and to get out and make…