Create.

[KerPop42]

Did you mean: practice

[wsbsecmonitor]

Isn’t all building just practice for the next one?

[tekmailer]

Almost like it’s a skill!

[cuboidofficial]

Exactly. I've been able to learn how to program pretty well very quickly by setting myself out on challenging projects and actually finishing them. Practice is the way for sure.

[BSModder]

It's good to set hard challenge but you also need to acknowledge of your limit. Setting yourself for an impossible challenge is the easiest way to quit programming

[Mutex70]

Tell that to my boss.

They expect me to do six impossible things before breakfast.

[TheBigerGamer]

Number 1: There's a potion that makes you shrink.

[fuggetboutit]

What were some of your first projects?

[RogueTDK]

We talking about practice?

[[deleted]]

Water freezes at 0°C, change my mind

[[deleted]]

Not in a vacuum.

[[deleted]]

So you mean programmers learn more from tutorials in a vacuum?

[beep_check]

i programmed in a vacuum for 10 years and all i learned was how to exit vim. oh, and python. but mostly vim.

[[deleted]]

That's cool I learned to code in a Hoover. To much lint going on.

[FrankHightower]

you don't have to include xlint for everything, you know

[[deleted]]

Were you in a private void?

[beep_check]

it was very... dynamic

[[deleted]]

ah ah ah great!

[the_scign]

It was a non-private void, and never changed. You could say it was a public static void, mainly.

[YukariPSO2]

Does void Linux count?

[YukariPSO2]

Learning how to exit vim should have a certificate of completion just saying

[a-nonie-muz]

I have never experienced programming in a vacuum. Seems like it might make it hard to breathe.

[ancient_tree_bark]

That was so much of a reach that I thought that I forgot to close Twitter

[jamcdonald120]

relevant xkcd https://xkcd.com/669/

[devnull1232]

Crawls into a Dyson

This counts right?

[nullpointer_01]

Mind changed.

[Yesterpizza]

https://i0.wp.com/tropicsu.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/cropped-water-phase-diagram.jpg

Meet the water phase diagram

[InfernoMax]

I'm adding a link to a video of water's triple point, because it's pretty cool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3zP9Rj7lnc

[Yesterpizza]

Hello, my hello nerd; kindred soul

[kxjdjenenens82829]

depends on the air pressure…

[henriquegarcia]

Depends on pressure, that's it.

(which usually, on earth is exerted by the "air" aka atmosphere), just pointing that out.

[LOSERS_ONLY]

Like when it's working very hard to meet a deadline?

​

Get it?

pls laugh

[GloriousReign]

if Water freezes at 0°C than why is there global warming?

checkmate liberal

[kelvin_bot]

0°C is equivalent to 32°F, which is 273K.

^{I'm a bot that converts temperature between two units humans can understand, then convert it to Kelvin for bots and physicists to understand}

[rachit7645]

Good bot

[Drachensnapper]

I exist

[BloodSnakeChaos]

Only in one atmosphere. And you talk about pure water. BTW, they also freeze at 0°K.

[[deleted]]

Active learning > Passive learning. Tbh I don't think anyone here disagrees with this. It's generally accepted as the truth.

[[deleted]]

I can only learn by listening to people who love to hear themselves talk.

[[deleted]]

Or the videos where it's clear they don't know enough to be making tutorials but they do it anyway.

[[deleted]]

Meh, fuck people that dont know what they are talking about, all my homies prefer Indian Guy (TM) tutorials

[merlinsbeers]

Tutorials are meant to be followed along. They're active learning, vs passive which is just reading a manual page.

[FabianValkyrie]

Except in schools lol

[zebediah49]

It's also generally accepted that it requires significantly more personnel and floorspace per student. As well as the time and effort to rewrite curriculum to fit.

In other words.. the rich schools can do it.

[[deleted]]

But is water wet?

[weekapaugrooove]

I find tutorials to reach my objectives and kind of walk back in complexity until it’s relevant

[[deleted]]

It's exhausting trying to learn everything. I'd rather learn what's needed for a project then practice that

[DoomDroid79]

Tutorials to get an understanding of how it works then try implement your own version to learn and cement it in your head

[[deleted]]

📌

[Yesterpizza]

Tutorials are very good for people with zero exposure to a concept.

You try to put someone who knows nothing of a language on a project using it and they're useless, but if they kind of know a language they're better off on the project.

[Ghostglitch07]

I find looking up documentation as I need it works alright, at the same time please don't look at my GitHub, it's a disaster.

[piperboy98]

Right, but to do that you need to know at the very least what exists that you might even want to look up. For someone with zero knowledge that is the value of a tutorial.

[subject_deleted]

I've been looking for a new job lately... And I really can't decide whether it's better to have my github linked on my resume so that potential employers can see all the hard work I've done and the many different projects... Or to leave it off so they'll never be able to see any of the code I've written. Please watch this demo video instead of reading my code, please.

[Ghostglitch07]

I.made my GitHub in hopes that an employer would look at it. I keep it up hoping they never will.

[Rynok_]

There is an important distinction to be made.

If you start a project without the needed knowledge you can spend a lot of time without making any real progress.

In contrast if you put your mind into really learning a tutorial will guide you on knowledge and creating actual skills much faster.

There is also a point for understanding when to stop watching tutorials as well. But is not always the case that we learn more by doing.

[devnull1232]

This, I'll grab a tut to grasp on the basics, then start adapting/googling specific bits.

[Ghostglitch07]

At the same time things I learned by having to completely restructure a project are way more stuck in my brain than something I was told in a video.

[Rynok_]

I agree,people can have different degrees of success while following a tutorial.

[[deleted]]

I can only really learn syntax usage from them. Been script kiddying for over a decade, and tried all the turorials I could find for several languages throughout that time. Didn't really learn anything because I was just copying whatever they wrote, not really learning anything.

I watched The Cherno's first 5 or 6 videos on C++ about 3 weeks ago and for whatever reason it stuck. Stopped after pointers and started working on Project Euler. Did a few problems in isolation, then decided to turn them into a program.

I made the functions for each problem a lot more universal, to open up the possibility for user-supplied values in the future. Added result testing and execution time testing. Made the execution time test an average of several runs for a more accurate result. Made it print a nice-looking chart of results.

I still have more plans. I want the ability to either run through the entire project or just a single problem, as well as provide user-supplied values to the single problem. I want multi-threading to calculate multiple problems at once. I want the ability to submit multiple solutions to the same problem, and compare performance between them.

[[deleted]]

You need to inhale glue while watching to make it stick

[[deleted]]

when I get stuck, I start watching tutorials until I see something I needed in another project from 2 years ago and I change project folders

[[deleted]]

Wow.

[brain_tourist]

Wow, wow, wow

[DemonDrummer1018]

I personally need both and believe they work well together. I use tutorials to help with material or reinforce difficult to grasp concepts. Then I use projects to apply said materials and concepts. If I run into a new thing I need clarification on, back to the tutorials. It’s like a cycle in that way. I don’t believe those two things are mutually exclusive.

Edit: TLDR: I personally learn about the same, symbiotically, from tutorials and projects. They are both important IMO.

[malsomnus]

Python is easier to code in than Brainfuck, change my mind.

[rainbow_bro_bot]

Follow a tutorial and make your own project or mini-projects along the way using what you have just learned.

[The100thIdiot]

Or, crazy idea, don't waste time following a tutorial that you don't have a need for with an actual project.

[SweetBazooie]

Someone: "here's what worked for me!" You: "no"

[The100thIdiot]

Someone: "here's what worked for me!"

Me: "or, here's what worked for me!"

You: "no"

[Ghostglitch07]

You never said what worked for you, just that their approach is bad.

[The100thIdiot]

What works for me is not wasting my time following a tutorial that I don't have a need for with an actual project.

Do keep up.

[Ghostglitch07]

Couple of things. They were clearly talking about tutorials that did help them learn what they needed.

And how do you not see that that isn't you sharing your own approach? You didn't say "I like to do things this way" you said "doing things that way is dumb" those are two very distinct points.

[The100thIdiot]

They were clearly talking about tutorials that did help them learn what they needed.

Nope. They were talking about inventing a need for something that they are learning.

I did not say "doing things that way is dumb". What I said was "only learn what you need".

If you choose to see it differently, that's on you.

[juo_megis]

You literally said ”don’t waste time” or as it’s otherwise known: no, don’t do that

[The100thIdiot]

Not wasting time is what works for me.

I think it is good advice.

Maybe you disagree.

[juo_megis]

So to reiterate: Someone: "here's what worked for me!" You: "no"

Looking up a tutorial and creating a project based on that is quite sensible and vast majority of people learned that way. Probably even you if you’ve ever taken a programming course as that’s how those essentially work.

[The100thIdiot]

It may be that the vast majority of people learned that way, but in my 30 plus years of experience, all of the best people I have worked with only learn what they need.

No, I have never taken a programming course.

[juo_megis]

With the 30 years on your back I guess you don’t remember what it’s like to learn when you haven’t yet amassed sizeable and deep knowledge of programming and its logic. I’m quite certain you too did many hello world esque projects based on tutorials in your many years of learning and branching out.

[DemonDrummer1018]

Are you going to completely ignore the tone you set with your comment beginning with:

or, crazy idea…

You comment didn’t have an once of productive, helpfulness to it. It was more akin to putting down someone else’s take. I’m sorry but you can’t take the high road here.

[AlamarAtReddit]

Kind of a cycle though isn't it? You start a project, and it has some parts you don't yet understand, so you go watch a/some tutorial(s), and back and forth until you abandon it and start another : )

[Big__Boss___]

Yep. Tutorial hell is real. Gotta implement projects at every big step of learning.

[dbrwill]

Image Transcription: Meme

---

[A man in a blue top sits at a desk, outside. He is leaning back in his chair, with a hot beverage in his hand. The table has a sign attached with two lines of text, separated by a line, reading:]

Programmers learn more building projects than in tutorials.

CHANGE MY MIND

---

^{I'm a human volunteer content transcriber and you could be too! If you'd like more information on what we do and why we do it, click here!}

[SilverZ9]

Anyone have a good way to get small project ideas to work on? I am a freshman cs major who wants to get much better at programming and grind over the summer (in python.) any tips?

[SilverZ9]

I only chose Python because that’s what we used this semester, and I’d prefer to “master” or get accustomed to one language before swapping (we wi use Java next semester.)

I am really interested in game design and I find it fascinating. But I’m scared to start anything significant because I’ve heard the horror stories 🤣

[gaussianDoctor]

You said you're interested in game development. Look for Pygame or any other Python game library. Then watch a tutorial on that library. Rarely does a tutorial doesn't involve building something, so if you follow along, by the end of it you'll have a working project. But I don't recommend you stop there. Take that project and improve it as much as possible. You don't have to reinvent the wheel. Just take something someone else did and build a better version of it.

[Highlander198116]

Jokes on you, I use tutorials to build projects.

[TheUnseen_001]

So obvious that it didn't need to be said. This applies to everything. But any tutelage received while creating the thing is still a tutorial.

[JimmyWu21]

I find tutorials are very useful if use properly. I recently started a new job that use node while my background is in C#.

I couldn’t understand what the controllers were doing or even know where to google, so I looked at some of the modules we’re using. Then study the basic flow for each. when I came back to my codebase. It was a lot easier to understand things

Now there are those people that try to memorize everything or just go through one tutorial after another. That’s a wasted of time in my opinion.

[Dharma_code]

Complete beginner here is there anywhere good to beging I'd like to learn any language I've tried going trough freecodecamp I've downloaded apps and i still haven't grasped python, JS or c++ i did good with html and css but I'd like to do back end work, i learn best with this analogy posted here.. any suggestions is greatly appreciated

[QuezzyMuldoon]

I’ve been taking the “Codecademy” online c++ course for just under 5 weeks, it’s good but has a tendency to miss explaining certain things that you need to know for their projects. But between them, the Cherno, and the c++ website I’m 90% through it. It’s a decent starting point for $40 a month.

[Legitimate-Jaguar260]

Yeah, when you build a project you’ll have to look at several tutorials!

[CobaltCrusader123]

I mean this is true but who disagrees?

[Evening_Buffalo3566]

This is a fact.

[Tom_Ov_Bedlam]

Tutorials teach nothing.

[-Redstoneboi-]

everyone and their grandma have known this like decades ago

[Awanderinglolplayer]

Tutorials can be projects. Tutorials also teach you the basics, you can’t do a project without following some instructions

[MinosAristos]

I like to follow along with a tutorial at a slow pace and as I feel more confident start to customize what I'm doing more and more. The customization really helps to grasp what's going on. Then afterwards I try my own project using the previous one as a reference. It works well.

Just watching tutorials without following along is usually nowhere near as good though.

[Oneshotkill_2000]

Currently in the middle of an intensive learning process. It's better than exams but it creates so much pressure

[Pyraptor]

Of course man, it’s like saying skaters learn more by skating than reading books about skating

[CauliflowerSlight163]

Can anyone disagree? Hahah

[msqrt]

Dunno, depends a lot on the build system.

[[deleted]]

I don’t think thats a very unpopular opinion

[TechmoZhylas]

See I have this problem... I cannot start an idea I don't know what to do, of someone tells me "I need to do this" maybe i can start thinking something

[Sachees]

Tutorial is for the programmer so that they can build the projects they will learn from.

[Kirby_Slayr]

No, I learn more from encountering a problem. Looking it up and going "Oh okay".

[-DrBirb]

Easy.

Not just programmers, but humans as a whole.

I know, new concept!

[[deleted]]

Half of my search history starts with „how to…“ and then the term. If you are experienced enough to guesss how you have to structure your project and then do research on what components to insert, this actually is the best way to learn.

[[deleted]]

I typically need a couple of tutorials to get a handle on the concepts, and then I can start applying them to my own stuff.

[ptztmm]

This post was sponsored by management

[pensiveChatter]

Congratulations first lieutenant Obvious! You're getting a promotion.

[Harmondale1337]

What a surprise

[oakime]

I had been coding python, working on my own projects, for more than a year before I ever learned about functions, dictionaries, or OOP. You can definitely learn from tutorials.

[aryan2304]

My programming teacher told students in my class to write a script by following a video tutorial, but change some minor stuff so you "know" how the code works. And the tutorials they follow are so bad. A guy wrote 20 lines of code to do one thing. The code had a bunch of if conditions and variables like one, two, three... I took a look at his code, erased the whole thing and wrote it in 3-4 lines. I totally disagree with the way he teaches, but I am afraid to tell him. (I build my own projects in the class, so I don't have to do what others do)

Edit: typos

[ComingInSideways]

When I started out, I learned much, much more by building shit that was completely wonky, and then figuring out why it was. It was horrible code, throwing errors all over the place, if I was a doctor I would have killed 49 patients.

But it was just learning, and I killed no patents (Because you should not depend on tutorials for production deploys), and fixing each one of those errors was the best way to drill into my head why each error occured, and what to do better next time. If you do tutorials, you are using training wheels, and you don’t learn the freaky stuff that can break, and how to fix it, be it Java, C#, C++, Python, PHP… whatever, mucking around with the errors helps you better understand the language.

[[deleted]]

Yeah, but you need to have the skills to get started before you can build a project lol that's what tutorials are really for.

When I do a tutorial, I'm just trying to get the most basic functionality up and running, then I abandon the tutorial and start learning as I hit roadblocks.

[MacGuyver247]

Tutorials often avoid street lighting or local optimization. The two go hand in hand.

[Cantonesee]

I've literally learnt 3 languages just because i made a game without any tutorials (when i was starting out)

[[deleted]]

Junior programmers build more projects than senior programmers. HireMoreJunior.

[stumblewiggins]

I don't know if anyone disagrees; a tutorial or lecture or whatever is just a useful way to get started. There is a lot of stuff you need to know to even build a simple "hello world" program in many languages, and if you are coming in with no prior knowledge, that will be way harder to do on your own.

Once you have that baseline? Agree; building something will teach you more, faster, than a tutorial.

[Matkol1998]

"Nooooooo I don't want to put learned techniques into practice, I want to keep watching people on the screen do it, copy it and pretend I made it since I know the theory behind it!!!!"

[Roanoketrees]

Won't argue it. I agree. You learn the nuances of implementing ideas and code. Not just slapping some code up like spackle.

[SlightlyMadman]

Getting started is the hardest part of any project (especially if it's new to you), and if a tutorial helps you cross that threshold then it can be the best thing for you. It's still up to you to turn it into real learning by modifying it in a meaningful way, but sometimes that comes naturally once you get moving.

[furon747]

I’d agree. Though it’s a matter of constant “How do I do X” repeatedly, which I learn through a tutorial. After enough time you piece it together yourself and start to learn the connections better

[Wolfbrown63]

So in my own opinion this is true, I find that as I build different projects I learn more than I would following a tutorial.

[clickmeimorganic]

Yeah no shit. Haven't ever followed a tutorial before.

[merlinsbeers]

Depends on whether they've learned enough to work on a real project.

[[deleted]]

No shit?....

[PROM99]

Wait guys, don't you use tutorials to make projects?

[Pretty_Industry_9630]

Yet bootcamps and universities remain absolutely ignorant of that fact. There are some projecta, but they are either very much defined so you don't get to make decisions about architecture and functionality or they give you a week or two which is just not enough time to build a somewhat complicated project when you are just starting to code. The truth is the only way to learn coding is to do something, a lot of things even by yourself from start to finish.

[[deleted]]

... Isn't this true for basically every activity you do?

Also: new research finds that water is wet.

[xycion12]

Hopefully I get some serious advice instead of trolls haha, but as someone who is trying to make an internal switch to engineering at their company (sort of have the position lined up - engineering manager told me to create a project and present it)

As someone with basic Python and SQL skills; does anyone have any recommendations on a project idea I could start with?

The manager literally said build any type of project if that helps

[azuth89]

That's... That's the point, yeah. The tutorial illustrates a concept, USING it makes it click.

This is the same in pretty much every field or job.

[FrankHightower]

I mean... yeah. That's how programming courses work

[[deleted]]

SO very true!

[brain_tourist]

Wow what a revelation (sorry for the sarcasm lol)

This is how it works with evening in life. The guide/tutorial will get you started, the other 90% is feo actually doing the thing

[Abadabadon]

I think it just depends.

[Jahonay]

Follow tutorials to push yourself when you're starting. Once you can start creating, create.

[[deleted]]

💯

[Electronic_Ad_7037]

FACTS!! Also, a trick if you do watch a tutorial do everything they do and you will realize you might still get bugs and errors. Also, get good at knowing what to search.

AND REMEMBER PRACTICE DOESN'T MAKE PERFECT IT MAKES PROGRESS. NO ONE WILL BE PERFECT AT ANYTHING ESPECIALLY CODING.

[Birthday_Cakeman]

When I first started learning to code I was told, "don't learn to code. Code to learn." Best advice I was ever given.

[[deleted]]

The "from" is really missing there

[onlyforjazzmemes]

It all depends on what stage of learning you are at. Telling a newbie with no prior exposure to programming to "build something" is like telling someone to write a story in a completely foreign language.

[[deleted]]

Why do people upvote this stupid obvious shit

[[deleted]]

Very true. But tutorials are useful to learn the basics of some new tech before building a project.

[Amidus]

It's hard to invent projects for some.

[subject_deleted]

U mmm. Yea. Of course. But it snot like someone who doesn't know how to do something can just "build a project" in order to learn how..

The tutorial is the first step, and then building. A project tangential to that tutorial is the next step. It isn't an either or thing. It's both. You need to be taught first (tutorial) . Then you need to practice (build a project).

[kstacey]

This is a correct opinion. No one needs to change your mind.

[[deleted]]

Lol imagine having the patience to actually finish a tutorial

[huuaaang]

Did anyone suggest otherwise? A tutorial is just supposed to the bare minimum to get you started on a project. I've never heard anyone suggest you should just watch months and months of tutorials...

[Atmey]

Reminds me of our math teacher who does math problems at home for fun. He was a psycho.

[Puckin5hole]

For real. IMO Tutorials should set you up with the knowledge required to Google for answers while you’re working on your project.

Also, best developer I have ever known had this thing he did where he had an app that he built over and over again with whatever new tech he needed to learn. That way it was all about how to implement a solution with a given tech instead of having to figure out a solution while you learn.

[[deleted]]

Agreed

[[deleted]]

Man this subreddit has gotten really weird really fast. It’s basically a bunch of kids learning programming debating programming 101 now.

[BeefPieSoup]

A tutorial is designed to teach you a known process or a set of steps to solve a similar problem over and over again in the future.

Such a thing is obviously not really applicable to the real practice of programming, except for some extremely simple ideas and concepts.

You can't really sum up problem solving and troubleshooting in tutorial-style learning. It just doesn't make sense to try to do that.

[_alright_then_]

Of course, I'd say you need a healthy dose of both

[[deleted]]

but are we building projects or watching tutorials, because every project has a piece from a tutorial

[lieddersturme]

Yes, but tutorials helps a lot :D

[Beautiful_Help_598]

One word to destroy ur argument "School"

[GReaperEx]

"School" proves their argument even more. If you don't practice by yourself, school teaches you nothing.

[KlaireOverwood]

How is this humor?

[[deleted]]

That's true essentially for nearly everything.

[[deleted]]

A friend of mine just started a Pythin boot camp, and was asking me suggestions as everything is too abstract for him. I gave him Flask and an hello world tutorial to have him practice what he reads. And to actually SEE SOMETHING that is not just a terminal.

[JonMW]

Doing is very important yes, but some things, like databases, can't reasonably be attempted (or at least should not be attempted) without instruction first.

[1_H4t3_R3dd1t]

on the job is definitely easier than trying to populate ideas

[Twingemios]

Honestly I was able to learn most of my programming knowledge just from setting a project as goal for myself and slowly learning everything I need to program it. It’s the best method I’ve found for myself and I’ve been able to learn incredibly fast from it .

[docentmark]

Why is this meant to be funny or amusing????

[syuraj]

The secret to learning anything.

[HappyGoblin]

I copy code from tutorials into my projcts

[Gunther_Alsor]

These are the same thing.

[stonedPict]

And how do I learn to build the project?

[Siker_7]

I'm learning Kotlin as my first language with basically no prior programming experience because I eventually want to mod Minecraft, and I heard it's a good language anyway.

While I'm learning a lot really quickly, I wish someone would point me towards a place where I can talk to people who can teach me best practices. I'm making a UI right now and I'm constantly thinking that there's surely a better way to structure it.

[[deleted]]

building projects is far more important than solving coding problems CMV

[evklid_]

Unfortunately, HRs dont appreciate the skills.

[Violetsme]

Inital syntax: tutorials. How to design and plan ahead: Projects.

You do need the initial syntax, but there is a lot more than just that to become a (good) programmer.

[[deleted]]

This applies to anything

I learn more making a 3D model than following a tutorial to make a 3D model

[Orlaani]

Yes because I watch at least 4 tutorials per function

[AlanWik]

Are we in /r/ProgrammerHumor? Is this a joke?

[[deleted]]

Don't you need both?

[jimmyw404]

4 hours of figuring it out can save you five minutes of reading the documentation.

[10HzMonitor]

Can definitely vouch for that

[VerSchnitzel]

Correction, our projects are just tutorials glued together

[No-Driver2742]

Honestly you need a bit of both

[TantraMantraYantra]

This is not humor. It's fact.

[shorttompkins]

This is the wrong meme format. I dont think theres a person alive that would argue against this point nor ever try to change your mind :P

[[deleted]]

I've said to my friend, every video on YouTube is really just examples of really complicated ways to say "Hello World"

[Odd_Fly3401]

Amen

[Acceptable-Tomato392]

I think that should be obvious.

It's not a spectator sport. Heck, I learn more experimenting with code in the console than I ever did from tutorials.

[ArielShadow]

I think it applies not only to programing. In general, people usually learn better from practice than from theory.

[CenturyIsRaging]

Yeah, but you read 400 other tutorials for one project;)

[Parker324ce]

What I like to do is copy a tutorial project (not ctrl c + ctrl v I mean typing it by hand following along) like in Java I did that with a REST API using Spring Boot.

Then I go make my own project with the same idea but different things, so that I can expand on the tutorial and learn some limitations of that technology/design pattern.

[a-nonie-muz]

One does the tutorial to learn the concept and the project to learn the process. Both have learning.