Learning programming is hard, which is why tutorials are helpful to ease the learning process. However, over-dependence on them can slow your development growth.
Just think of this, you are sitting in front of your computer and ready to learn a new programming language. You start finding tutorials or courses on the internet to have an idea on how to get started. You followed your instructor step by step. But as you continue watching halfway, you just felt your mind is going blank. You don't have a clear idea of how's going on when you start reading your code. All that is left is the feeling of self-doubt and uncertainty.
I'm done watching this. Did I learn enough? I should watch another tutorial. I need to master this.
If you find yourself going through this experience, well, welcome to tutorial hell. It is a situation where you were dependent on following a tutorial to build or create something. It is a common situation that beginners fall into. I know learning to code on your own is difficult, and I wanted to share my experience on how I got out of tutorial hell.
Why do we get stuck in Tutorial Hell?
Let us talk first about the reasons why developers stay here.
- You're doing tutorials to add skill to your resume. You only write the code you followed from the tutorial and not developing that skill.
- You moved onto another tutorial without adding or refactoring it.
- You consume information from courses that are pretty similar to beginner level repackaged by different people.
- You get overwhelmed by the information written or taught in tutorials.
I'm not saying that you should not do tutorials. My point is to use tutorials effectively to escape tutorial hell, improve your learning, and gain skills.
Okay. Let's pave the way towards escaping tutorial hell.
How to escape Tutorial Hell
There are many ways to break out of tutorial hell.
- Start your own project. Once you learn the basics, push yourself to use them in real-life applications. Creating your own project is one of the most effective ways of gaining skills and experience. You will find problems that you can't solve alone and that's the time you google the issue, post a question on stack overflow, read blogs to solve your problem.
- Contribute to open source. Find a project that interests you, solve a problem or add a new feature. It is a great feeling when your pull request is approved.
- Join a community. You will get exposed to new ideas, best practices, and practical suggestions and learn a lot from members of the community. Communities provide you the most efficient way to share, ask, and find an answer.
Final Thoughts
Tutorial hell is a miserable place to be. You don't know if you're heading the right way and you feel it’s hopeless to learn programming. But be patient. You'll be out of there soon. And remember, never return.