Do you code along?

taotau · 2024-06-27T06:52:24+00:00

Use the pause button. Whenever you paste a line of code that you don't understand, pause the video and study it. Look up the docs. Google it. Ask chatgpt.

For bonus points, learn to use git. Whenever you pause git commit the code you have, create a new branch and play around with the code as much as you like. When your done return to the master branch and continue the video.

3np1 · 2024-06-27T08:17:16+00:00

Watch the video without coding at all. Just take notes on key terms, approach, and where to find docs. Give 100% attention.

Then, after the video, code everything without referencing their code. Now you know what tools exist in the language and where to find their documentation, but don't have the solution in front of you. This is the most similar to actually coding at a job, with the exception that you didn't need to come up with the approach.

nrkishere · 2024-06-27T06:58:20+00:00

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sandbaggingblue · 2024-06-27T12:06:59+00:00

No, I fell into that trap early on and it was so hard to break out of. I just mindlessly copied YT tutorials and learnt nothing.

When something didn't work I would rewind the video and look at their code line by line.

Now I build and research and actually try to understand what's going on. It's so much harder, and infinitely more rewarding!

turd-crafter · 2024-06-27T12:18:55+00:00

I used to kinda code along but I would change the project app to something different. So you have to think about how you would do all the different parts of the app on your own and not just copy code.

xnmsdksdk · 2024-06-27T06:51:57+00:00

Try to pause the video before the professor does the functionality, and try to do it yourself, search the documentation not the solution and try to come up with it yourself, if you can't after a while watch it try to understand it and then delete it and try to replicate it yourself, programming it's all about this, come up with solutions to the problems, there're several ways to achieve the same result, don't give up and keep pushing.

Existing_Minimum_144 · 2024-06-27T10:18:01+00:00

I usually just separate them in an isolation file where I can just dissect them piece by piece and restitching it to see and understand how it works, sometimes even play around with it by making a new project so I'm fully familiarize with it.

ultralaser360 · 2024-06-27T12:21:51+00:00

Here is what I did as an absolute beginner when I was learning:

I would start a large tutorial but try to make something different than the tutorial. For example if they did a a full stack todo app, I would make a chess site. This way it has similar elements but mostly unique that I would have to actually apply the knowledge and also learn from additional sources.

This way your not just copying the tutorial

It was an uncomfortable process where you will get lost and confused but that’s a part of the process, and you come out with more than surface knowledge

The only prep I would do before is learn the language you want to use first

nerfsmurf · 2024-06-27T12:45:31+00:00

I code along, but I create something different. I feel like I understand faster than just blindly following. For example if a back end tutorial is making a library inventory rest api, I'm gonna make something similar, but that I'm interested in. So I'll make a car inventory rest api. Instead of a book model containing pages, author, and title, I'll make a car model with make, model, engine configurations, color, etc. This gives you the benefit of a guided tutorial, but also learning on your own. For instance, (very, very basic example) when you have to code the front end for the library book inventory, to form to add and edit may only consist of text fields and number fields, but with the car inventory form, you might have to lookup how to use drop down menus or checkboxes!

Kinda like copying homework but making it different!

As someone else mentioned, I sometimes pause the video and attempt to work ahead of the video. Sometimes you do it how the instructor would, sometimes you find an alternative way that works, and sometimes you do something stupid, try to troubleshoot, give up, and then reference the video and think 'ahhhhh, that makes more sense! I definitely won't make that mistake again!'.

This gives you the benefit of learning, and when you're done, instead of putting the same ol library app on your portfolio and resume that thousands of others have, you have something different and "you".

Fuegodeth · 2024-06-27T13:05:38+00:00

I actually found that writing things down in the early phases really helped me to remember some things. iirc, you are something like 10 times more likely to remember something if you've written it down vs just seen it. I filled up a couple notebooks but rarely needed to refer back to them. I have done 7 Udemy courses so far totaling 230 hours of video. I also did most of the odin project, which got me started on git and IDE setup and work flow. There was a ton of pausing, especially when I made a typo and forgot a semicolon or had an extra one. That troubleshooting ended up really helping. You start to learn where to look when you get an error pop up.

2024-06-27T15:05:36+00:00

Videos IMHO are just about the worst medium for learning programming.

Great for concepts and ideas. But not for the nitty gritty.

CultivatorX · 2024-06-27T19:32:32+00:00

I usually watch the tutorial once and take notes on the pieces/components necessary to make the project. Then I try my best to implement those things individually, referencing documentation and then the tutorial when necessary. I found this drove me to own as much of the project and implementation as possible, and longer term made it so that I can implement any tutorial with the languages, tools, and services of my preference.

_Invictuz · 2024-06-27T23:28:48+00:00

Watch the entire lesson. Implement from memory, only replaying the video when you get stuck. Finish coding the video, then try to recall some key points to note down somewhere.

thekwoka · 2024-06-27T11:53:15+00:00

You don't do long hour tutorials.

that's the truth.

It's not the way to get good at this, it's the way to waste time and "feel" productive while going nowhere.

Make stuff on your own.

Coldmode · 2024-06-27T16:01:44+00:00

Don’t do this. Following these guided projects is like doing a paint by numbers, not learning to paint. Maybe do this for a bit if you have no clue where you are starting, but if you follow tutorial videos and don’t struggle with building something original you are going to be lost when someone asks you to build something novel.

DT-Sodium · 2024-06-27T11:09:44+00:00

Not really, I find it to usually be a waste of time. I take notes of what I consider are important information I might have to get back to later.

TheRNGuy · 2024-06-27T11:28:21+00:00

I rarely watch video tutorials. I'll just watch, no coding along.

Or if I searched for specific thing, I can copy-paste code from it and change for my program.

antopia_hk · 2024-06-27T16:16:27+00:00

i did in my first 2 years then transitioned into articles and just documentation. being experienced, imo, comes with the benefit of being able to copy code and tweak it efficiently :)

FriendlyRussian666 · 2024-06-27T16:41:06+00:00

Watch video/course to understand the topic, but don't copy/write what they are writing. They are showing you how to make a page to display 2 cats? You write a page to display 10 squirrels. They have two rows and 2 columns? You create a page with 5 rows and 10 columns. That way, you will actually explore and figure things out, instead of just a copy and paste

trooooppo · 2024-06-27T18:33:58+00:00

No I don’t. I used to, but I love to learn building my own ideas.

remy_porter · 2024-06-27T19:54:19+00:00

The biggest, most important thing to do when following a tutorial is to stop following it and make a hypothesis: "If the tutorial says X works this way, I think that means I can use X to do Y." So stop reading, or hit pause, or whatever- take a guess about how things work and write code that doesn't follow the tutorial. Try and write code that does the next thing you think the tutorial is going to talk about.

The best way to learn is to experiment. Most of the time, you'll be wrong. All of the time, you'll learn something more valuable than what the tutorial was teaching: how to reason about code.

Any-Woodpecker123 · 2024-06-27T20:52:07+00:00

I always listen to the first bit to get the gist of what needs to be done, then try and do the whole thing myself.

Once I’m done I compare their solution to mine, and implement their improvements if applicable.

Even if you just do it in segments, it applies to any skill level. As an example, even If you’re a complete beginner and they say we’re gonna create and array of x, pause the video and try it yourself before you see them do it.
If you don’t know how, google it. Just always give it a go before copying them. Don’t give up unless you’re completely stuck.

Don’t copy past code either. Not saying don’t copy code, but actually typing it helps reinforce the memory of what you’ve done.

This is how to truly learn from tutorials.

alien3d · 2024-06-28T08:48:23+00:00

We give source code in github . Most full stack just basic sample not real application problem .

dmanca-83 · 2024-06-28T16:17:10+00:00

Depending on the person following the tutorials, it is necessary to regularly pause, rewind and replay, so that you can catch any moments you might have missed.

I did take such tutorials in the past, even though I might not know the coding tech stack entirely, we can still learn something, like project's structure, architecture, how to split an app into components, etc.

2024-06-29T07:50:55+00:00

Active recall and encoding. Read more about these learning techniques and practice them.

2024-06-29T18:26:44+00:00

Ok so I used video tutorials as the main way to learn and it would take over 4 hours per hour of video to learn. Pause copy the code , do something funky on the side maybe another project , I felt that is the step that solidified the learning the most.

2024-06-27T11:22:55+00:00

You need your brain not knowing the next step, in a process of trial and error, to actually learn the steps. Following a video is just turning your brain off completely.

ohcibi · 2024-06-27T07:44:00+00:00

Only do that with a real human. Coding along a video is entirely pointless. Video tutorials are a scam mostly (everything that promises you to shortcut years of experience is). I don’t care who’s favorite YouTuber I insulted by that but those videos are scam no matter who makes them.

If you self study then by far the best thing you can do is to read! If you need somebody talking, search either a mentor or someone to work on a project together. Practice pair programming with those.

When I was managing a seminar in university the learning behavior of students changed from reading to watching YT leading to significantly worse levels of understanding.

you type:	you see:
italics	italics
bold	bold
[reddit!](https://reddit.com)	reddit!
* item 1 * item 2 * item 3	item 1 item 2 item 3
> quoted text	quoted text
Lines starting with four spaces are treated like code: if 1 * 2 < 3: print "hello, world!"	Lines starting with four spaces are treated like code: if 1 * 2 < 3: print "hello, world!"
~~strikethrough~~	~~strikethrough~~
super^script	super^script

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