I recently enrolled in a reasonably priced online course for full stack development taught by Dr. Angela Yu. I've seen plenty of positive reviews, but I'm wondering if this was the right decision. Are online courses really worth it? How beneficial have they been for others?
3 Answers
I started with an Angela Yu course back in 2020—it was a web development bootcamp. Looking back, I think it missed teaching the foundational programming mindset first. I struggled quite a bit with the JavaScript part. Later on, I took CS50x, which was a total game changer. So yes, online courses are a great form of free education, but it really comes down to how you use them. Many people just end up caught in a cycle of doing courses without really progressing. Real growth comes when you start building your own projects without outside help.
It really isn’t just about the course you picked or how highly rated it is. Ultimately, it’s on you to learn and code independently. You should avoid getting stuck in 'tutorial hell.' By the way, why did you choose the Angela Yu course? I thought it was older and not very accessible anymore!
If you're referring to Angela Yu's course, it's a solid choice! I finished it recently and picked up a lot of valuable skills.
Oh, I didn't realize! The one I bought is by her and claims to be updated, and I found it on Udemy.
I’ve taken Angela Yu's Python course and loved it, but for full stack development, I think the Odin Project is the better option. It’s free and has a great Discord community to support learning.
So should I just finish this course I bought, and then look for something better later? Like, complete what I have first before switching?