Hey everyone! I'm currently on my coding journey and often find myself questioning if my learning method is valid. A lot of the time, I just memorize how things are structured from YouTube videos or documentation, and then I try to adapt that code for my own projects. Is this typical for most developers, or should I be focusing on writing everything from scratch? What are your thoughts on this approach?
5 Answers
Everyone learns at their own pace! As you advance, try to reduce your dependence on tutorials. Maybe use them for a general framework and then dive into figuring out the details. You seem to have a good start—just keep pushing yourself to learn through building real projects!
You're probably doing great for a beginner. As you get better, you'll find you rely on tutorials less. Just remember: practice is crucial! Focus on building projects, even if they seem small. Each project will reveal gaps in your knowledge and help you grow.
It's a good idea to write your code from scratch first, then see how others approach it. This helps you to think critically about why they do things the way they do, which leads to deeper understanding. Learning happens through trial and error, so don't skip that process!
It's fine to start off that way, but eventually, you'll want to reduce your reliance on videos. It's totally okay to look things up online or even use AI for help. Just make sure not to copy-paste everything. The best way to learn is to experiment with the code; try changing it, making mistakes, getting it to work again, and then work on mini-projects to reinforce your knowledge. That's how I've improved!
Totally agree! Experimentation is key. I often start with open-source projects, tweaking them to learn the code structure. It's fun finding things to change!
Great advice! Trying to predict how the code will fail is a smart way to learn. It really helps in solidifying your understanding.
Creating projects on your own is super important! It doesn’t matter too much what you build; the key is to learn by doing. The struggles you face while coding will help you remember what you've learned much better than just watching videos.
I feel you! I'm having trouble figuring out project requirements too. Sometimes I know the theory, but translating that into a practical project still gets tricky.