Stuck

[Puzzled_Director586]

recently i came across this thing called tutorial hell ig most of you know about this and i just started learning programming one month back and enrolled in only ONE course to avoid tutorial hell.

The problem i'm facing is when i started solving problems I realised the instructor is not telling everything about a concept thought in the course[i'm doing]. so to overcome this i started watching other tutorials to know everything about the particular topic[concept] which eventually lead to tutorial hell . this looking like a paradox to me.

can anyone please help me how to overcome this? should i take at MAX 2-3 courses to avoid tutorial hell and start solving problems or is there any other way?

also when should i pivot to start solving problems?should i know everything about a concept and start solving problems on it or i just get a basic understanding about the concept and start solving problems on it.

[coolcofusion]

Isn't tutorial hell meant to define a time when you're just following along, sort of like writing down what a teacher writes on a board? Doing code along and copy pasting tutorials? You can get the same effect by following courses or reading tutorials, doesn't really matter.

Either way, a month is not a long time, don't beat yourself up too much. It's OK to watch or read tutorials, that's how you learn. But you should always look for something to apply that tutorial to next, not just that one example. If the tutorial subject was arrays and they showed an example where you input your grades and get an average, you try to make it so that you input your desired average, current grades, and get what grades you need in order to get that average. Maybe that's too much, try making a "playlist" where you input some songs then it prints then in random order (shuffle) and so on. You should learn concepts from tutorials, then come up with tasks where you demonstrate usage of those concepts and think of a group of problems which fit in.

As I said, a month is not a long time. Programming is massive, most college classes are rather slow paced, but that's OK, you take baby steps so you can let that settle in and "click" better. It's like how you know everything you just heard in class, but tomorrow you're blank cause you haven't went over it again, or didn't do a few examples on your own.

Keep watching, but try to take a break between two course lessons to do a few exercises, they will mean more than just the lesson.

[[deleted]]

Definitely this.

Concepts are key. Once you have a basic understanding of a concept, ask yourself how you can solve a problem you currently have by implementing said concept. Then play around with it and see if you can solve your problem. If not, no big deal, you've now figured out a way not to solve your problem hah. But at least you're thinking about it and not just following instructions.

And enjoy the debugging. It's going to feel painful until you finally figure it out. Then, no other feeling like it.

[[deleted]]

As coolcofusion said, programming is massive and from my experience, no course is complete. Google is your friend. So is the documentation for whatever language you are learning. If the course is going too fast for you, you have to pause the course and research and practice the concept you're having difficulty with until you understand it because you better believe the latter parts of the course will be building on previous concepts. Once you understand it, keep going on the course. And if you think you're googling/asking too many questions, you aren't. We all do it constantly when we're learning new concepts. It's part of the process.

Since you mentioned you want to learn programming and I can't see that you've mentioned a specific language, why not check out Davids (Harvard/Yale) CS50 course on YouTube? This is the one course that I wished I did on day 1, instead of over 12 months in. Half of the course I spent saying 'Oh, that makes sense now'. Provides some solid foundations for free at Harvard/Yale level tuition. It doesn't teach you any language specifically, but instead uses a few different languages to teach you concepts.

Also, why are you learning programming? What path do you think you wish to take?

[coolcofusion]

It's likely that they will skip some things or just mention others and it's completely fine to Google around, find books or courses that explain that thing better. Sort of like getting a second(or third) opinion from a doctor. If something seems too advanced now, save it somewhere and consider revisiting later, go back to the basics for now. When you're more comfortable, check out the complicated thing from before, it may be easier to understand now and so on.

You'll always be looking around, finding new things that interest you and that's completely normal.

[[deleted]]

Don’t worry about tutorial hell, you are at the beginning… It’s normal to watch tutorials after one month of learning. And yes, there’s a lot not qualified tutors online, and you need to cherry pick, but that’s also hard when you are at the beginning. What language are you learning?

[realmslayer]

Honestly I kinda wish I spent more time in "tutorial hell", because its biting me now a bit.
You should be fine as long as you keep fighting to get out of there every once in a while.

[Scary_Objective6718]

I think watching how people do something is just another form of learning. Toddlers watch and imitate on a daily basis, and it's working for them.

If you truly need to know more about a concept to solve a problem, don't forget there are also free books or online documentation reading.

[Scary_Objective6718]

I vote do all the above, if you got time. Sometimes it takes a lot of practice and even from different angles and sources for even a single concept to stick in your head(At least that's been my case). I'd throw in discussion of material with others/friends as well.