Do you think online tutorials are enough to start your dev journey?

Fernando Doglio
5 replies
It's only taken me 20 years, but I've finally figured out one of the major causes of "tutorial hell" new developers tend to suffer, and that's the actual tutorials! 99% of online tutorials only scratch the surface of development, and you're left wondering how to keep going. "Maybe the next tutorial will have the answers I seek!" No it won't, none of them will, you need to fully build actual projects to get those answers. What do you think? Do you think online coding tutorials are enough? I'm going to soon launch a course that aims to close the gap and really cover every single aspect of software development. It's going to rely heavily on project-based learning and hopefully, it'll help many new developers ramp up their skills fast. Would you be interested in such a course? What are your thoughts on the subject?

Replies

Arsen Batyuchok πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦
Online tutorials in a format of video and narration work for some people and doesn't work for others. This does not matter in which format you're used to consume content. I'd say the best way to start a dev journey would be: 1. Find a mentor 2. Find a project that you will enjoy working on. Then you'll have motivation to continue working on it day-to-day.
Tutorials alone won't matter if you don't actually code. Just like any new skill you're learning, if you don't practice, you'll never truly learn it.
Fernando Doglio
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@gusoliveira_ I agree 100% with you! But coding alone without proper explanations (if you're just getting started) is incredibly hard as well. I'm looking for something that meets both ends, you know? detailed explanations + proper code.
@fernando_doglio you're absolutely right! Having someone who can explain to you the ins and outs and be like a mentor is extremely important. When I was starting out, I had an awesome coworker (senior level) who turned into a mentor. It was awesome because everything I was learning in theory, I was able to put it into practice and had him as a support system to not only answer questions but also give me great advice. If you're not yet working at a tech company, what I can suggest is maybe try to take what you've been learning and practice on a low-code dev platform like Back4App (sorry about the cheap plug). Our platform is 100% free and you don't even need a credit card to sign up. To use us as an example, let's say you watch our video tutorials on YT, you practice on our platform, and if you have any questions, you can join our Slack community and speak directly to our support team (they're real people, not chatbots lol) and our users. If you wanna add me on LinkedIn, I'll be more than happy to help you in anyway I can https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliv...
Drew_Quinn
sound interesting