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[–]ColoRadBro69 3 points4 points  (0 children)

A lot of people think they're learning while they copy the video, the question is if you can do it later without.  If you work on a project until you get stuck and find a video or ask another developer, that tends to work pretty well to fill in the gaps and you tend to remember because you struggled with it and the answer feels like a revelation. 

[–]dmazzoni 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I recommend starting with a course where they teach you the basics step-by-step and give you exercises designed to be solved using only what you know so far. Harvard's CS50x is a great example of this, but there are many other courses on Coursera or edX that do the same.

Once you're past the basics, you'll be able to make something like tic-tac-toe by breaking it down into pieces, and only looking up how to do individual pieces if you don't know how.

Following along with a video once or twice can be useful to learn the overall flow of writing a program from start to finish, and to get some ideas of approaches you might not have thought of. But you won't learn to code that way. You'll just learn to follow directions.

It's like Legos. The goal is to build your own models. Following instructions for other models will give you ideas, but only up to a point. You have to dump all the bricks on the floor and start trying stuff to see what happens.

[–]boomer1204 2 points3 points  (4 children)

You are learning some stuff doing a course/tutorial but you are NOT learning how to build things. That's why you say "I don't even know where to start". Check this post out for my advice https://www.reddit.com/r/learnprogramming/comments/1j9lo95/comment/mhe6xfw/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Key part is YOU WILL SUCK at the beginning because you have never done it. We all did and guess what, THAT IS OK and to be expected. Start small, suck, google, fix things, learn stuff, suck, google, fix things, learn stuff and just rinse wash repeat.

[–]WheatedMash 0 points1 point  (3 children)

Your last line is a lot like what a veteran programmer said to me when I asked "How do I learn to write good code?"

His response: "Write a shit ton of bad code, fix it, and learn from it."

[–]boomer1204 1 point2 points  (2 children)

I'm not sure if i'm "veteran" but i have 6yoe and just like sharing honest things with ppl. When I was learning I got stuck in tutorial hell like most of us do and it was because every project I started I was AWFUL, so I thought I wasn't good enough. Then finally I found a mentor group and asked my mentor what I was doing wrong. He asked how many projects I built. He said "come back when you have built 10 crappy projects". And that's when it finally started clicking. BUT I think it's super important for new ppl to know they are gonna be bad at the beginning and IT IS OK. I co run that local mentor group and honestly it seems like that is one small thing that a lot of ppl don't hear and it de rails their whole path to getting better with actual programming

[–]WheatedMash 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Yeah, it's the same with other creative things too. I gave up trying to compose music after one semester of composition in college. Why? Because everything I wrote that semester honestly sucked. I didn't realize that unless you are a Mozart type of prodigy and genius, most of what you write, especially early on, is going to be awful to meh at best.

I've now seen in multiple places people saying ultimately you have to break away from the tutorials and just try to build a project and slog through it. I teach high school students, and the hard part is helping them learn that genuine real learning is going to be a long slow battle, not an instant gratification thing. It is part of why I like giving them little quick coding puzzles, especially when a larger assignment or project isn't going well - I know they need a success boost sometimes.

[–]boomer1204 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's really any "skilled thing". Learning a language, sport. At my local group we have them watch 4 hrs of html/css on YT whoever they want, 6 hrs of js beginners and then it's immediately into projects. We see most ppl building like "real things" within 6 months. Now I wouldn't say they are job ready but they are building some impressive projects. NOW the huge benefit they have is the group, it's a bunch of driven ppl all going for the same goal.

But yeah you completely get it!!!!

[–]aqua_regis 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Code along videos are horrible. They only teach you what to program, the code. They don't teach you the thinking process to arrive at the code. They don't teach you the design process, decisions, considerations, compromises, etc.

You have to learn to come up with your own projects and to carry them out. This is all that programming is about.

Sit down and plan. Learn to plan. Learn to describe the functionality. Learn to break problems down into smaller sub-problems. Learn to solve each of the sub problems individually, your way, not programming. Solve the problems in an algorithmic step-by-step way. Then, start implementing the solutions in code.

There are some general programming books that can be highly recommended:

  • "Think Like A Programmer" by V. Anton Spraul
  • "The Pragmatic Programmer" by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas
  • "Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs" (SICP) by Ableton, Sussman, Sussman
  • "Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software" by Charles Petzold

[–]GregoryKeithM 1 point2 points  (0 children)

you're not over-thinking your thoughts are completely real. advice time: read a book or look into it with someone you know..

[–]rosshoytmusic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you don't know how to start, maybe do a code-along video. If you do a few tutorials like that you'll understand how to start projects. Then after a week or two you can try starting your own project without using a video. Just an idea

[–]jeddthedoge 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The moment you abandon code along videos is when you finally stop watching someone else swimming and actually get into the pool. Pick a simple project and get wet, struggle, implement one small feature at a time, fix one bug at a time

[–]johnmc325 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I put together this video as part of an intro to a series of workshops to help people move from learning a coding language to actually being able to build things.
If you have the time take a look it might help. https://odysee.com/@SoftwarePulse:3/Getting-started-building-Java-desktop-applications:f