How to ACTUALLY LEARN using programming tutorials!

[@AndySterkowitz]

Have you been having issues with learning from tutorials? Did this video help you in any way?

[@BraxtonMeyer]

No one signed a treaty on December 1st, 1895 so I don't know what you're on aboot there bloke.

[@AndySterkowitz]

Braxton Meyer lolol

[@baileyburnsed4352]

yes, it did. I am also self-taught and I am currently taking a submitter off, the fall, I hate my experience with collage so fare. Forchetly I am not in debt and this is so encouraging, I do software development and game dev as a hobby, and I actually learned more about Computer Science by reading the Open Source Textbooks from the OpenTextbook library, GA tech, and I've Lege school contribute to and use these books.

[@gingja]

Been following your channel for a few months now and I went to college and got a degree and couldn't really find a job because the degree was learning several different languages but never specializing. That being said, I've been doing a lot of tutorials and watching a lot of your videos got me to realize I needed to pick something to specialize in and have a purpose. Once I get a job in what I'm currently specializing in I can work on other programming skills in my free time. You've been great and I appreciate these videos immensely!

[@crossfire112278]

It is funny. With some of your tips, it is like you have a camera watching me and just have to say, do not be this guy. I have most of the no-no's checked: tutorial purgatory, not finishing the tutorial, overwhelming myself with trying to learn everything and then ending up learning nothing. I think I have gotten to the point where I have tried to cram so many different languages into my head, I could not write a Hello World program in any of them now to save my life. My problem is wanting to change careers so bad, I try to learn everything so I can get any job. Now, I cannot get any job. Lesson here, do not be this guy.

[@chrissampson7569]

The examples in this video describe me accurately. When I discovered Udemy, I was like "Oh wow! So many video courses on what I want to learn! Only $9.99 from $199 but for only 3 days! I better jump on that!" In less than a year, I accumulated over 100 Udemy courses, started most, and completed 2. I got sucked into Udemy's mastermind marketing and accomplished nothing but wasted money and valuable time. I have since learned my lesson. I've found that once I get the basics out of the way, everything else is just reference. I think about what I want to create, lay the basic foundation, then find resources to help me accomplish what I'm trying to achieve at certain points in my project. For me, this approach is a lot more productive and I learn intermediate and advanced concepts faster because I apply them to my own projects and learn what works best or doesn't work at all, which is 100x better than trying to complete 20+ hour Udemy courses that get me nowhere.

[@matheusrocha78]

@@nizamahmed5607 yeah, I think so

[@edb484]

nizam ahmed Exactly, I’m just learning myself. But I’ve talked to a few software engineers and they both told me they keep Google tab up lol. Both of these make over 100k

[@DevOtionSynthax]

nizam ahmed - it’s not just “Googling stuff”, you have to know what you’re looking for. Understanding the basics helps you a lot. You can Google all you want but if you don’t have a basic understanding of the language it serves you no purpose.

[@thienle8979]

If you have 100 courses, share the accounts

[@slimyelow]

Making wheeny tiny side projects on a single topic (they don't have to look pretty) cements your mastery; you literally own that skill!

[@vidaliseghohimen6660]

It’s crazy how helpful this video was for me. Especially the part about making sure that I know the specific purpose of why I’m using a tutorial and getting the most out of it because I’m the type of person who will absolutely cram everything and forget half of it. Thanks for this.

[@AndySterkowitz]

Excellent to hear! Yeah I have made that mistake many times as well. I'll end up choosing a tutorial randomly because it sounded like something I needed. But since I didn't have any real use for it, the content went in one ear and out there other. Cheers Vidal!

[@ssboxer]

Your advice is spot on. The only way to solidify what you’ve learned is to build. It’s like you can’t be fearful of the pitfalls and walls you’ll hit along the way because that’s what makes you a good programmer/developer. The desire to build is organic. It’s that little voice nagging you telling you “this tutorial is great but...”.

[@TinyMaths]

I like your Matrix analogy. If only learning was that quick and easy eh? I spent the first year of college wondering why the hell I wasn't able to retain the stuff I was learning in lectures. I felt like I was not learning anything, until I realized that there's this moment when I hear a concept in class, and think " yeah, I understand that ", but then month later I had completely forgotten how the concept worked and had to go back into my notes and study them 'all over again', otherwise I couldn't even complete assignments that had questions involving the concept. Cramming might be an option for people who have not studied for upcoming exams but I feel that you don't really understand a subject on a practical level until, on some level, you've taken it apart, worked lots of examples, including ones which are beyond your skill level, made mistakes, got into a rut, learned how to fix what you broke, understood your mistakes etc. After repeating this many times over at that point you begin having a good 'understanding' of the thing, and you can add it to your problem solving/item building toolkit.

[@rodneytheredmage3436]

This man knows what he's talking about! Avoid! Tutorial! Purgatory! That outro was dope!!!!

[@AndySterkowitz]

Thanks Rodney!

[@praveenb9048]

Google up --> understand --> *_implement_* --> forget --> repeat. Gradually, stuff that you need more often, sticks in the memory. Stuff that you don't need often, just re-Google it whenever required.

[@MissLysreign]

I love the idea of keeping a running tab of things you don’t know. Thank you for that! It helps you to not be stagnant when something gets hard.

[@slimyelow]

Added 'coding-along' practice doubles your chances of retaining stuff.

[@khalidmohammad5103]

Now I should... 1- Start my code editor/IDLE and take Actions (stop being passive). 2- Avoid cramming with the tutorials . 3- Get out of the rabbit hole.

[@tina360]

I am so happy youtube recommend me your channel

[@cornellmihkail1238]

It's 13 minutes of everything I need to know. God bless you Andy!

[@avanishsrivastav2392]

He's saying what we are/were going through and that's so true Nice work Andy

[@slimyelow]

On point: Tutorials are each a puzzle piece. Gather many and you will soon see the bigger picture.

[@mpsniper9316]

This video was needed Very helpful. Thank you

[@markshinoda1028]

Thank you a lot on this. This is exactly what I needed, how to use them.

[@AndySterkowitz]

Awesome to hear. Cheers Mark!

[@pratikthorat3480]

i just started learning web technologies! i learnt html and recently started with css! before taking tutorials i watched youtube videos and saw these amazing people made these animations simple! then i tried making my own animations and i failed! i watched your video and i got to know my mistakes! And now i am able to design stuff (to some extent). Thank You so much Sir!

[@artdirectorgiraffe1003]

Thank you, ive always thought about, what i should be doing while learning from a tutorial and this gives me a good concise idea on what to do! Great info.

[@ccarter2468]

Don't be passive, wow such simple advice that I admittedly was overlooking. Foolishly, at first I was just observing and trying to suck in the information, but I found as I went through and typed out the code in Pycharms along the way it was helping more. Simple, not complex concept, great. However, hearing you codify it the way you did with the tennis analogy was spot on and helped cement that behavior for me. Thanks for the gem!

[@AndySterkowitz]

It’s an easy trap to fall into. The way most of us have been taught to learn is to try to understand concepts. Programming is different in that you need to actually demonstrate that you can use those concepts on a real world setting. So glad to hear it helped!!

[@ramonmaximiliano3557]

one of the few videos where the guy is actually giving some meaningful advice about this

[@kickatorch9151]

Keep doing what you do, its so helpful for startups

[@lefxxwill7740]

such good advice! It seems straight forward but somehow I really needed this guidance on how to learn from tutorials

[@Anonymous_starrrr]

U are talking about really important topics! Thanks :)

[@zealousprogrammer4539]

I use to tend to quit when I find a bug, even lastly I start over from scratch then figure it out.

[@ifracing]

Awesome video, i feel like i was always passive, thinking yes im learning, but this makes 100% sense! Now my learning is getting better, im now watching tutorials and at the same time writing down the code and also finding out what each individual word on c++ is meant for. Thank you

[@itsmistermisfit]

Your tips are pretty genuine and amazing. Cheers!

[@glengub]

Where is that one dude that will summarize a video with an unordered list? We need you. 💀

[@AndySterkowitz]

Lol

[@slimyelow]

This is an amazing channel. And I am a lardass at just figuring this out now.

[@pavelow36]

tutorials are good for overview and quick brush up. but you always need to supplement that with your own mini-projects. you need to keep doing it looking for ways to improve your old code, clean it up, add new functions, etc. just like when you write something on paper (back in the days when people used pens), it tends to go into your brain more than just using your eyes and ears. I think it was Feynman who said you need to teach it to be able to learn it.

[@Detonat0r]

As electrical engineering student I had my first experience with programming almost 9 years ago with C++. After long time I started to study on my own. I watched two tutorials. One from udeny and one from free code camp. I keept notes and then I started to make my own simple programs. I repeat: simple, in order to understand what I was tought from tutorials. Although there are things that I haven't understand until now, Like setters, getters, pointers and others. I do it as hobby and I like it. A friend gave a book of C and I read it because it has a lot of similarities with C++. I believe that a book is much better source of knowledge because of the many examples. Soon I will buy another one for c++. My plan for the next months is to learn the basics and then maybe I will go for python which looks more "modern". Don't forget: don't be hurry, be patient , keep notes and take actions.

[@Genethagenius]

Thanks! Another great video! I was having trouble with the title attribute the other day and I finally got up, took a break, and when I sat back down, not only did I figure out why the title attribute wasn’t working for me, but how to properly implement most attributes with elements finally clicked for me! I made some very simple pages to practice it and it really helped me retain what I’ve been learning and solve problems I run into when trying to code with what I’ve learned.

[@AndySterkowitz]

You're welcome and glad to help :-)

[@dianejones8298]

Awesome advice. This video illustrates how unique I am not. I have been experiencing several road blocks you have mentioned in this and other videos; and am realizing my experience is not unique and others have encountered the same issues. Definitely need to get a mentor. I am glad for you and other KZbinrs who put out this type of content. So helpful.

[@AndySterkowitz]

This issue is so common. Figuring out how to navigate through it is what separates those who succeed and those who end up giving up. Glad to hear this was helpful!

[@slimyelow]

The coolest moments in tuts are: "ah, I know that...." and you code the entire segment without blinking, only to find out that the instructor put in his own twist.... yet you score another point, because that is maybe how your future software colleagues may have done it!

[@asherxasher8914]

Really took me a while to learn that lol the way my instructor may code it isn't the only way to code it. There's more than one way to skin a cat.

[@slimyelow]

I have found learning / progress diaries to be invaluable. I swear every one of you is going to look at an entry from just a few days back and say: "WTF! Did I really learn that?".

[@codingmorrison7957]

Well done Andy! I really like how you broke down how to get the most out of tutorials in this video!

[@Conceptsexplainedsimply]

I really adore you and your content, Andy. I'm breaking into the field right now as a full stack developer and am now beginning to go down the path of learning React. This type of stuff is really helpful to me, because you hit points that people actually need to hear. I'm really stoked about the life-long learning aspect of programming and that's ultimately what drew me into the field in the first place. I'm so in love with the ability to be able to go on any computer and utilizing my brain to create things. It's so much nicer than having to go back to construction and wear my body down.

[@elpalako]

Andy... Sometimes I think you make videos just for me! I'm learning programming now and it seems you know that I'm doing it! Thank you 🙂

[@slimyelow]

Writing down immediately the tiniest things from a tutorial reinforces actual learning and understanding . This has been proven scientifically.

[@slimyelow]

Great point: If bored, switch to new topic asap.

[@Ctrl_Alt_Elite]

This is a brilliant video, wish I found this a year ago 😂 related to a lot of it 🤦🏽‍♂️

[@harpalsinhjadeja2568]

you read my mind seriously

[@AndySterkowitz]

😊😊😊

[@slimyelow]

I am actually taking notes on this video and spewing out comments. Read them !

[@SkandanKA]

This is so cool! Thanks for pointing out the hidden thief inside us!

[@jasonhumphrey2464]

Really great video Andy!

[@AndySterkowitz]

Cheers Jason!

[@gilgene5803]

Andy, this topic really speaks home I use a lot of tutorials. I normally just take a lot of notes. in other to kind of bookmark my memory.

[@jackjones3657]

You make a good point that the brain needs to be rewired to pleasure by more novel things, like learning a new skill. There are A LOT of entertainment based superficial distractions one needs to filter out. Also don't lose the forest for the trees, focus on one skill at a time.

[@UteChewb]

Good advice. I've been out of the programming env for awhile and am getting back into it for fun. But I wholeheartedly agree with your strategy. I also found that the best thing, for me, was to have a small project that motivates you at the start of the tutorials and that you can use to apply the knowledge to. There will likely be hard parts to it, but that's good because it will force you to understand the technology much more deeply, which is the whole point.

[@Pathrissia]

Right on! Amazing Andy!

[@mkvc111]

Thank you Andy, it is solid advice.

[@AndySterkowitz]

Glad to help Carlos.

[@GorillaDev417]

About to deep dive into some tutorials tomorrow to prep for a project we’re starting Monday at work. Will be getting down on some fundamental level state machines, litelement, webdriverio, and typescript.

[@harshbarj]

What I have found to be most helpful is to do small junk programs. So watch a tutorial on one new idea or command and then write a small program that uses that. It can be something as simple as a number guessing game, or input a few numbers and find the largest. But the goal should be to use the new idea / command in that code, even if there is a better way to do it. It's one thing to read, but another to actually implement what you are reading into a project.

[@MichaelWilson-gq8ud]

I agree with taking notes. I currently go through some Code Cademy to get fundamentals of languages. I take decent notes and it helps to read over them along the way. It's a very bad idea to try to work on a tutorial for 8 hours. Best thing I've heard is to push yourself. That could be by doing other people's exercises or better yet, your own. If you can design your own program and code it you'll learn so much.

[@shortty7618]

I’ve been working through a tutorial and building a project website on the side while going through it. After I get through a section, I’ll start using what I learned on my project, and I retain the information so much better. About a year ago I tried to learn to code, but gave up at intermediate CSS lmao. I had no drive. No determination. No grit. Anyways, I’m learning Bootstrap now, then Javascript! Can’t wait to have my website doing cool things!

[@ieatyoursushi7655]

the taking action part is the most accurate

[@ignacioa3698]

Great input!

[@breakinggreatness1010]

I realized the Paradox of choice when learning code is a bad thing. Having said that, you can also find the best instructor for your learning type and move slowly through the content - really understanding the material. Sometimes I repeat exercises over and over, it's amazing how much you think you understand vs how much is understood.

[@abrahamf6124]

My hardest part was transitioning from very basic to a little more advanced, the very basic stuff tutorials are abundant so it's easy but once it gets a little deeper there are less and less topics of what you are looking for, so my best way to learn now is when I work on an application and I don't exactly know how to do one thing I Google that specific thing. I don't have to watch a long video just to find out one little part of information. Of course this would only work if you already know what you want to complete just don't have all the info on structure of some part of the code.

[@bethshebaovercame9580]

You are such a blessing.

[@MrJuego-pj9no]

Finally found a perfect advice for a beginner.

[@VinhNguyen-my1gb]

Andy I agree with what you say to a certain point, but as a beginner you need to start somewhere. People are different, and each one learns differently. The must important thing is to do it. Dive in. Thanks for your videos though

[@NguyenDuy-jd6sm]

Hi Andy, i watched a lot of your video for a while and i really like the way you explain things. Can you make a video about Object Orient Programming next. I found the topic is quite hard to gasp for beginner. Thank you in advance

[@seetsamolapo5600]

Java OOP - Thomas Wu. Trust me it was also a problem

[@slimyelow]

One more tip. If you find another say Udemy course at a ridiculously low bargain price on pretty much the same topic grounds you already know, buy it and complete it. This process is akin to professional work experience. - cementing your skills just like a pro !

[@daniel71626]

I'm still using tutorials, but i have more understanding than before. And many tutorials start at a basic level. I like the more advanced stuff... like LAMP stack in OOP.

[@devyankapoor9091]

Hi Andy! Its awesome content. Liked it:)

[@Xtreme360boy]

1:32 "Where that place and wyrgols"

[@slimyelow]

Udemy coding courses are tricky when it comes to selecting the right one for your situation: Beware that too many of them state "beginner" yet advance with boatloads of prior knowledge and familiarity on your part.

[@haraldcarlsten6238]

Great video! Very motivating!

[@AndySterkowitz]

Thanks! Glad to help.

[@nandomax3]

Following this tutorial I hope I'll learn how to learn more from tutorials

[@progtom7585]

learn by DOING - simple, but NOT easy!! cheers Andy 👌

[@gurukiran4567]

Woaah you just read my mind!!

[@AndySterkowitz]

lol

[@adenijiakintunde6620]

thank you andy

[@MrSonofaMother]

I highly recommend App Academy boot camp, because it completely free and has help me improve with challenging problems and a set curriculum that is easy to follow. I was in the same place just being stuck doing tutorial after tutorial on udemy and youtube for around 4 months. I knew how to do things in theory but didn't have any projects or couldn't actually figure out what to code

[@MrSonofaMother]

@@SahraClayton what are you talking about, its a web site it works on any OS. Google search free App Academy, its there for every body no matter what OS

[@isholaolatunde2391]

Thank you... very helpful

[@AndySterkowitz]

Glad to help!

[@thetechlunatic]

found solutions to all of my problems

[@JR-pk1fr]

"Remember to complete the Damn tutorial." Luulllzzz

[@chito510_]

9:30 I have a quick question. I understand a concept of repetition, but how would that work in programming? In basketball I can practice handling drills that will help me with the theory and then i can put it into practice in a pick up game because i know i will use everything from layups, jumpshots, passing...how would that work in programming if you are going to build different projects? Do I make the same project everytime? Sorry if it’s a stupid question😅

[@yessiralikhan]

Same question

[@GlidingScorpion]

You earned yourself a sub !

[@yusraiqbal2153]

So basically I should be open to every tutorial, even the ones in my parents' language that I like to avoid.

[@JousefM]

Nice tips! :)

[@dexter64270]

Thanks for making this video. I have been taking notes after tutorials and it was interesting to hear that you recommend note taking!

[@orangemancometh]

Duran Duran asked on Twitter today who should play the band members if a movie were being cast. I vote for Andy S. to play Simon Le Bon. Better get your singing chops up to speed!

[@AndySterkowitz]

lol you don't want to hear me sing...

[@devgarg7469]

Very helpful

[@dianamarce115]

Everything great. Now, any tutorial series you can recommend?

[@GameplayzOfficial]

10:52 That one was the worst to me, every single project I tried to make required a lot more than just the barebones. Let me build a website with HTML and CSS, oh, need to know Javascript to create a slider, oh, need to know jQuery to make a nice button, oh wait, need Bootstrap to make it responsive, and it keeps going. Now I'm able to be more focused on what matters, but for years didn't finish anything for the reason mentioned.

[@fiddley]

To echo a lot of the video: The trouble is that there is an explosion of learning material on the web by people who are not teachers or bone fide trainers. Most of these tutorials are just glorified demos. They show you every nth feature then move on without any of the things included that reinforce the learning, such as rote repetition, exercises or challenges etc. If you are lucky you will get a quiz at the end. Then people watch and watch these things and wonder why they're not learning anything. The trick is to slow down and practice doing the things taught, but sadly most courses do not prompt you to do this, much less provide adequate training material to facilitate good practice time. The tutors should do a tutorial on how to be a good teacher.

[@HavocGamingChannel]

Great video and great tips! I'll have a Word document up, and whenever an unknown term is used, I'll type it in the Word doc to get more detailed insight at a later time. I've got a pretty good dictionary going :p. Learning the terminology enhances conceptual learning, for me anyway. I get real experience in Python while following along with the book, "Python Crash Course (2nd Edition)" - it's been teaching me a ton in an easy way. By the end of the book, you'll make an old school alien shooter game

[@nataliadabrowsk3819]

Can you cover the subject of order at which the program is executed ? Great video Thank you.

[@dzi6278]

I usually get stuck with the very beginning, configuring environment. I do everything as in tutorial, but the result is Eclipse does not recognise my programming language or cannot run Tomcat. So frustrating

[@SuperXrunner]

I went through the HTML coding bee tutorial on Udemy. His accent made it tough. But i refused to quit because I wanted to do exactly what you are talking about. Because I do have a caleb curry course, quite a few actually. But the one I chose to practice with was Coding Bee's. Let's be real alot of the courses on Udemy free and paid are taught by Indians so the best bet for anyone who gets annoyed by voices like me is practice hearing these voices and not be distracted by it.

[@tareqislam1434]

GRIT- is what everyone needs

[@christopherdunlap1056]

Your video's help me keep myself on track and motivated. Thank yoy and I hope you keep posting 😊

[@AndySterkowitz]

Glad to hear Christopher. Keep on going!

[@ckkamae6761]

studies show people with lower levels of confidence are likely to practice harder, as a result perform better. some evolutionary advantage of working like a nerd. more projects > social proof, more gains from being extroverted- logic of the market. learn to incorporate diffrent technologies as you go

[@mikelemayawesometimeallthe6434]

Hi, have caught a number of your videos over the past year and really appreciate them. Thank you! All good stuff in this video but the major problem I run into more often than not w tutorials as a beginner isn't addressed here... when I'm watching such tutorials as well as in courses... What works for the tutor fails for me... What a lot of tutorials omit is how to figure out trouble shooting when things don't go how they're supposed to. For example I can't finish my coursera course because following specific instructions to share my Jupyter Notebook in Watson studio give me a link but doesn't allow it to be seen by others.... Or in a couple Pandas tutorials the way to build a regression object doesn't give accurate outputs in the practice exercise that goes along with the tutorial... Regardless of what area of programming one is interested in, what is your general advice when looking up documentation, stackoverflow... etc. isn't connecting the dots??

[@teimoorbahrami8634]

when i want to create my own project for example in python, i don't know what should i do. if i were to create a snake game i don't know what steps should i take to create it. should i just look an example code or try to do my own?

[@juliusnewton7520]

any suggestions on websites or platforms I could use to practice what I learned from reading/self studying programming as a true beginner to programming. I am looking to transition into a career as a security software developer. Thanks

[@jordanlanier7063]

This definitely applies to me unfortunately. I feel like I’m just unable to obtain react

[@stutiupreti5447]

Can you give link of your website?

[@johnmoriba7963]

Hey how are U? Can we Learn two programming languages side by side.

[@TheSlyDragon93]

I feel pressure as the company i work for has funded all my courses to become a php developer. I don't know what their expectations are on how quick they want me to progress, especially as a new it grad starting out. On the other hand I'm doing my best with the time i have after work.