Escape Tutorial Hell & Utilize Them In A Better Way

In this video I'll talk about some ways to utilize programming tutorials in a way where you are not so dependant on them and break out of tutorial hell
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[@valentineoragbakosi378]

I was once stuck in this tutorial hell until I started building stuffs on my own. At first it was difficult but later on, I got a hang of it. And today, I'm on my way to being a senior developer.

[@aldocaamal7740]

Great Job Valentine, keep the hard work!

[@dimitrivitalik2904]

howw

[@TraversyMedia]

Tutorials and courses are absolutley necessary, especially for self-taught people like myself. I would never suggest that you stop watching them. I still watch them all of the time, but it is important to not be dependant on them. My opinion anyway :)

[@madukomablessed4712]

I used php and mysql but I want to use flask because I know python better than php

[@harshpatel7704]

Yes i started programming with these tutorials. But over time, i started just watching the tutorials overall and then i directly start building projects. Now in just 2 years, now I can learn languages just from documentation. But i still prefer watching these videos first in fast forward to understand basic concepts.

[@madukomablessed4712]

@@harshpatel7704 there is limited time for me to develop the website. Which will you prefer I use?

[@alflud]

It could be your monitor settings, looks normal to me on my gear - you don't look 'red' I mean, you look the same as you do in every other recent video. Dude, you're an awesome role model. "Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for life."

[@bokunochannel84207]

Thank you for the advice. Very helpful.

[@yauul]

I didn't know others went through this. I just have this crippling thought that I NEED TO KNOW EVERYTHING before building my own project. I went through so many courses but I still feel like I'm incompetent and I need to know more.

[@TraversyMedia]

YES!! I see this all of the time. Just start. It does not have to be anywhere near perfect. Just get your hands dirty

[@ItsJustFil]

yauul you’ll never know everything. I built a React front end using MaterialUI knowing limited react and learned MaterialUI by looking at the documentation and using stack overflow. Patience is key!

[@yauul]

@@TraversyMedia Very true. Thank you for this video Brad. We all truly appreciate everything you're doing for this community.

[@yauul]

@@ItsJustFil Similar experience! I started to build an MUI app but then version 4.5.0 just got released 2 hrs after I started. Then my brain started to mess with me again. "Gotta know the latest stuff, check for tutorials and then do it". It's quite difficult to find any tutorial for MUI released this year so I kinda gave up. I'll definitely get back to it again, make mistakes and learn.

[@ritwikmath7937]

​@@yauulyauul start building apps and search for required solutions... I am learning this way and it is a very efficient and practical way... you can learn essential things faster because your focus will be also on practical rather than only theories... try to implement your theoretical knowledge each time possible

[@ismaelpena8555]

When you start to work, youtube dependency stops, and Stack Overflow will become your new best friend

[@ifecojahs8151]

How to think like a computer programmer. I did a lot of research, on algorithms, so first thing you must do is to conceptualize the app or project, demonstrate it on paper, break it down to smaller pieces, before starting.

[@anthonymichaelpalma3413]

Awesome tip!

[@tristansacotte6937]

Man you gotta be some sort of wizard every time a topic related to coding that im having problems with you release a video about! Thank you so much

[@wasifnaqvi2213]

Same here man

[@CraftedCodeWithHassan]

I agree with you, and this is the principle I used to learn things... :)

[@lucasqefo7378]

One tip to my fellow programmers . Dont wast time on tutorials. Learn the basics and fundamentals from them. Second step is to build your own project. Building your own project will open your mind on thinking and flexibility. If you dont know something thats the best part, you got to do the research and transform online codes based to your needs. There are millions of tutorial that you dont even need and its time consuming and mentally draining. Stick with a big project and find solutions by your own inspired by tutorials. Hope everyone succeeds on its path.

[@bladelazoe]

So I take it’s a “I’m not sure how to build x, but I’m gonna learn what it takes to build x”

[@janski3791]

Hey man, I wanna let you know that I don't know what KZbin's programming section would be without you. Keep it up! :)

[@TraversyMedia]

Thanks :)

[@hardwired89]

@@TraversyMedia thank you traversy

[@puredrivewhat]

It would be null

[@chucky50545]

Its insane how relevant and helpful your videos always are. You've been a big help in my career. Thank you, Brad!

[@kelvezu1585]

You're the best teacher I've ever had. Can't say how grateful I am. I just want to absorb all the good characteristics you have. Thanks for everything.

[@fluntimes]

I found this recently. Having spent so much time at home I watched and followed a few tutorials but felt I needed to start building things. All of a sudden the tutorials made more sense. When you try to solve your own code problems the material takes on a new meaning and you move from being acquainted with the code to owning it.

[@TheStrategist314]

I'm scared to leave tutorial hell. I know that sounds crazy...smh.

[@marcof1804]

I promise you that you won't regret it. Once you've made 3 projects of your own, you'll not only feel accomplished and confident in what you've learned but many of the concepts you've studied through tutorials will ironically enough only become clear once you've used them without reference.

[@TraversyMedia]

No it doesn't. There are a lot of reasons why, I am not sure your specific reason, but I think people don't feel ready and many developers can be very judgmental when it comes to code (I deal with it all of the time) which doesn't make it easier. But you have to just not care about writing "bad code". Jump in and try and just make stuff work, have fun and don't overthink it. Shit I wish I said some of this in the video lol

[@juliom6260]

Me too mate. Good luck with that

[@insideTheMirror_]

I left it for a while but got back to gain some more knowledge. That while was so precious and made me feel a real programmer. The thing with with tuts is that you stop being productive while you learning.

[@ThePropertyMakers]

@@TraversyMedia well said

[@adnanamin3666]

Your being real and discussing common issues inspire me every time I watch your videos. Love your concern about the juniors in the field. Thanks for caring for us and leading us through a an easy way. :)

[@betaman2009]

You know sh*t got real when the tutorial creator makes a video about escaping tut hell

[@TraversyMedia]

Just being honest. Also, tutorials are very important and I would never say don't watch them. But they need to be used as a resource, not a crutch

[@betaman2009]

@@TraversyMedia hahaha I totally agree.. btw I loove your channel, I've been here since like 2017!

[@AbreuArtu]

I'm ashamed to admit that I've spent almost a year and a half in this journey of getting a job just to realize today how wrong my approach was and that all this time I've just been lurking in the Tutorial Hell. After all this time, this video comes as a eye opening hard truth that I need to face. I just want to add that many of us do start by following Colt's videos or Stephen's and I do love them, however they clearly suggest you to add their projects to your portfolio, and since we are all new to the field, we try to follow their advice. Thanks so much for this video!

[@aladdinovich]

From my deep heart, thank you man so much. Your videos always come at the right time.

[@dzenish.2262]

Brad, you're just awesome. Thank you for being so honest about things.

[@ProgrammingwithPeter]

Just build something that comes from your mind, doesnt matter that is not unique

[@noicehockey9920]

That's great advice Brad. I was kinda in tutorial dependency but after landing my first react dev job I found out that real life projects consist of hundreds if not thousands of components. And one component might include 800 lines of code. And EVERYTHING and EVERYTHING comes from DATABASE. It is not even close to those to-do lists and tutorial websites. So mainly what I do for now is staring at someones legacy code and fixing bugs. I am a frontend-backend react bugfixer. Imo tutors need to change their concept, and maybe try to imitate a real life scenarios including: - creating git branches, and pushing upstream; -committing changes; creating/accepting pull requests. Have all the props in database and fetch them. Dont have premaid css(navbar or positioning) or solutions and search for solution online with students during course. Since most programmers dont write apps from scratch, especially junior ones as and idea for your course might be a ready app with like 40 components and full of bugs and feature requests. So you give challenges to solve bugs and add features. Ending up fixing all the bugs, adding features and have functional app. Here emphasis will be on not learning a technology, but learning a real life developer workflow scenario. So students will not have that rose-colored sunglasses on.

[@king-manu2758]

Your channel is the most amazing resource I've found just recently having started trying to get into web developing. Thanks for everything you do man.

[@shashanksinha6158]

when ever you come out with a video my brain burst out 😫 so much to learn from you thankyou

[@DevSage]

I remember watching one of your tutorials back in 2017 about sending text messages through the Nexmo API. Ended up building a web app for the library at my university that sends text messages to students when certain books they're looking for are returned back to the library.

[@TraversyMedia]

That is so awesome. I love hearing stuff like that :)

[@Shidira]

I feel like every time you post a video, you've just spent time in my head because your content always seems to be a bullseye on what I'm going through. I really appreciate you, your knowledge, and videos! Thank you so much for the content you provide us!

[@cwlbroeders]

Thx for the effort and your honesty mr Traversy

[@alibaba0428]

This is great, I actually started doing all of this on my own and it’s really great to hear that I’m on the right track

[@ritwikmath7937]

All my Udemy courses are half way done. I continously looked for various blogs, tutorials and read documentation for the technology I am learning. When I resume my course, I find out that I learned more than covered in the entire course. Big respect to you sir. You always guide us to the better future.

[@celebritydev1]

I was waiting for this for a long time. You've cleared some of the hurdles for me right now. Thanks, Brad. You sure are great.

[@obazeemonday310]

New to programming and not ready to break out of tutorial hell just yet but these points are filed away and will be very useful to me when i start building my own projects. Thanks Mr Brad.

[@akashnag3879]

Brad is a gem of a guy... His advices are precious.

[@LIFE-nr1yg]

I feel the same way, keep learning and learning, but what i found helps is doing bits and pieces of things you know. for example: i do navs in different ways and they come out right. then, i approach a whole page and so on and so on. i watch different videos for ideas and for strategy and architecture. thanks a lot for being so organized Brad. really appreciate your generosity. all the best to you and your family.

[@ranzorethor5295]

Great advice! I caught myself in the same loop and until I decided to create my own webapp using what I'd learned I realized that I learned faster, and actually learned things to memory doing it that way and actually researching the concepts that I needed to implement.

[@albertdugba]

Brad is such a huge inspiration. I just love your content

[@edgarmokua3204]

I've just started programming and i have found myself trying to learn everything at once and jumping from project to project and this has led me deeper into the tutorial hell but your great advice has really brought things into focus and i will take your advice to heart,. Thank you for your great advice.You really have no idea how much it has helped. Looking forward to more videos like this.

[@arnelarnaldo7376]

Thanks so much Brad for all the lessons I've learned from you whether it is about life or web development. God bless you and your family.

[@curlblue18]

I cant tell you how much I've been wanting you to make a video about tutorial hell! You have the best content on KZbin for developers and I CANNOT WAIT for your algorithms/data structures videos. I have always had a hard time with leetcode and I know that your content would be extremely helpful for me to learn these concepts.

[@MeMickyLuv]

I've watched a lot of tutorials many of them really good and helpful but to me this guy is a natural. Clear, concise and convincing. The stuff Traversy streams goes in and sticks. A big help, thanks.

[@SergioArroyoSailing]

You're such a great guy Brad giving all these advice. Keep up the great work! :)

[@mdminhajuddinkhan3014]

Love your honest advices. Can't wait for your data structures and algorithms series.

[@akshaysharma1145]

There are many other good online KZbin teachers available, but no body as honest and good like you.. You have changed my wrong perception. From Bottom of my heart thank you so much. 🙏

[@tenzinmigmar7266]

Thank you very much Brad for teaching so many people around the world including myself. I really appreciate your good work. Happy new year!

[@rodrickngonyoku5042]

I love how this guy is just genuine

[@mehmetemin5404]

Thank you for the advice Brad, that was helpful 'cause lately I've been lost without tutorials and feeling like I know nothing which is so depressing.

[@danielotienoke]

This is really Great Brad. Currently, I am using your API Masterclass tuts to build something different that will solve a problem in my town and planning to use React for its Frontend.

[@wespassick8369]

You are, once again on point. I love watching your courses and videos not only for the how to, but also for: 1. The clear, easy to understand way you speak. 2. Honest advise. 3. You project a near one on one experience. 4. It feels like you really care about the success of each person watching. 5. Your humility is awesome. It's obvious you do your research and present a highly polished product but by not pretending you just pulled it out of the air on the fly, goes a long way in keeping me from getting frustrated. I still have a long long way to go but I'm having steady epiphanies now thanks to you and others. Please keep up the good work.

[@o.voytyn]

Wow, your channel is almost 1m subscribers, congrats, it's hard to image that a channel about programming can have it.

[@archiedaga933]

He deserve it

[@mjunior1413]

I needed this, for the motivation mostly.

[@KylePrinsloo]

Excellent choice of video and well needed! We're so conditioned to buy books, courses and attend events, but too many of us just sit on the knowledge and don't apply what we know. Thanks for sharing Brad

[@AneesKhan-uz4mz]

Amazing as always Mr.Brad

[@Handmantoot]

Man this is so true. I just passed General Assembly's Javascript course and I feel like i'm not ready for any job OR I'm gonna be an imposture! This was amazing to listen too and now i'm going to really start breaking down projects just to learn them in a way i can understand and grasp. Once again, thanks for the useful information! You're a life saver, Brad!

[@reachammad]

I needed to hear this once again as I've fallen into tutorial hell again during this quarantine as I've decided to learn C++. Thanks!

[@macmillianmalope8338]

Your videos are on point and I'm learning a lot from them, hopefully one day I'll get to develop something great with the knowledge I got from your videos.

[@kkwilson27]

I did your React: Front to Back, now I am doing your MERN: Front to Back, I am glad I did them in this order because the React course really prepared me for the MERN course. As In depth as the MERN course is, I am breezing right through it with profound understanding. All credit to you that it is absolutely thorough, there has been no point that I have gotten stuck. Thanks for the great job.

[@jeffbee6090]

Thanks Brad! great input.... I felt that would be the case but appreciated hearing it from you!

[@BoisNation]

I didn't know that this was actually a thing before watching this video. After watching tutorials and courses, I felt very confident that I could actually do something , but then I couldn't and was totally lost. This video really helped Brad, even though I'm a little late on it. Thanks for sharing!

[@ramyniranjan5751]

What a valuable lessson from brad, recently i watch your passoword generator tutorial and build completely my way.

[@olawalemoses8958]

It's so easy to fall into tutorial hell especially when you want to be a senior web developer in three months because many web platforms are easy to relate with. Thanks BOSS I hope I can get you to mentoring me...

[@tarikutadese7794]

Thank you brad. I have been really dependant on tutorials even on the things I understand very well. from now on, I am gonna change this bad habit and try to work on my own ideas. Thank you so much.

[@kresimircosic3753]

Brad the type of guy to suggest the viewers not to watch his videos for revenue, but to actually learn how to learn.

[@jaironcuadra]

Valuable insights my man! Always helpful.

[@mahfoudh_arous]

thank you Brad, for this amazing advice! 🙏💖

[@Eduonix]

You can watch a tutorial on full-stack web development at kzbin.info/www/bejne/eIq1i5h7d7hoedU

[@alexandermeneses5688]

Amazing! Really, what I needed to hear. Great content, I'll stick around!

[@Unifono2012]

great points. Thanks for the video. I usually just watch the beginning of the project tutorials for getting ideas. I look what you are going to build (or other channels) , stop the video and try to figure it out myself. When I'm finished or even if I got stuck or failed, I come back and watch how you solved it. I don't really see the point of coding along to a tutorial, except for some muscle memory

[@Hotatoes]

Brad Thank you so much day after day you do really inspire me alot and when iam over my head u realse a video that show's me the way and put me back on the right track thank you so much

[@hansrajrouniyar8762]

The very interesting think in your talk was that you were speaking the real experience out. I am into programming from last 2 years but really lacked this insight of deconstructing the tutorials and articles instead got happier with stuff that came up as immediate results. Will try to incorporate everything gradually that you mentioned. Thanks Brad

[@JoeWong81]

Great advice Brad and that was very brutally honest and you're giving actual advice on how to get over that hump. That's what I love about your channel.

[@Likorca]

This is great, I'm just starting to learn how to code and this information is godsent. Also, you channel is a goldmine, I'm on a bingewatch.

[@mplovecraft]

I think the problem for many people is that they lack a solid foundation. It's tough to start building something on your own if you have big holes in your knowledge of the basics. I also think that people over estimate their own skills after doing tutorials. They make a ToDo app in JS and react without really understanding what they are doing and without havivng the JS basics down and then think they can make advanced apps using react. What they should do imo is focus on getting their JS (in this case) foundation down and then begin building easy and small projects that they can actually manage and then build and expand on those. Yes, it might not be what you want to do now, but maybe it's better to spend 50+ hours on JS before moving on instead of just jumping straight into taking 5 super cool React tutorials where you lack the prior knowledge to grasp the concepts and ideas presented to you. It's just my opinion and how I work, we all learn differently

[@geoffreygriffith7703]

I find if I have an Idea of what I want to do, if I have and end in mind, it's not that difficult to code it. Even if I don't know how to do it, the motivation is there to learn how to do it, and I end up learning things that I did not set out to learn in the first place. I don't understand video that say they are teaching someone who may never have programmed before, say JavaScript, but then in the first video introduce complex IDEs and frameworks. So now you have to learn JavaScript, the language of the framework and IDE. But I realize how complex developing apps have become, it's not like one time when you could develope for just Win95. Complexity comes when your app must work on windows, linux tables, phones and TVs. There are some who suggest that beginners begin with a text editor and maybe the command line, because the focus is on the syntax of the language you're learning and programming concepts. I also think programming is the important thing, not the language. Sometimes some of us may be learning a programming language and not learning to program.

[@emmanueljr]

I needed this... I've been doing this with Javascript for over a year now.

[@bertrandfossung1216]

Brad..you're simply the best. Thank you very much for all the work you're putting to make people like me better.

[@stefankrstic131]

Thanks Brad, i appreciate this.

[@Korudo]

This seriously is an essential video. Thanks for this, as i definitely let myself get stuck here for too long.

[@1polyron1]

A man of the people. Respect.

[@melissapthai]

Love this! Another thing I do is to pause the tutorial right before adding a certain feature, try to implement it myself, and then continue the tutorial to see if I did it right. I've actually caught some bugs in Brad's tutorials with this method :) BTW, thank you so so soooo much for all you do Brad! I'm a software engineer who left my 9-5 to explore the world of freelancing. I'm used to working with custom frameworks only used by my company so in some aspects I feel like a beginner again. Your tutorials have helped me immensely in regaining my confidence as an engineer and exploring the freelance life!

[@usamahussain4461]

I really learned a lot from this outspoken guy...:) I mean he is an inspiration. There are 2 other KZbin channels and my friend to thank, but literally the steps that he told to follow (deconstructing, connecting to Database etc.) are exactly the ones that I had in mind. One other thing that I used to do was searching for an "ideal tutorial", the one that would teach me everything without having to search for other ones and then "combining" them. But then these amazing people taught me that there is no such thing. Thank you sir :) I really admire you

[@kevinzhang8974]

Brad, thanks for these valuable suggestions and advise!

[@markanthony9432]

Thank You! This is spot on for me because I was just about to pack it in as a freelancer. Two things I've learned recently which are very important to me were research and finding one or two people to listen to here on YT. Researching is well over 50% of this because you don't know what to code if you don't know what to code...and I don't mean the language. I used to pick a facet and watch as many different people as possible. Now I may do that in some cases, but I'll go back to two individuals who I get the most out of afterwards...you're one of them. I also learned to raise my rates...lol. Thanks

[@ariolverab]

Thanks for the advice Brad, we’ll keep that in mind. Even when you don’t make tutorials (technically speaking) it motivate us, this video arrived just in time. Happy destructuring tutorials !

[@maxd7228]

Thanks for making a vid on this Topic Brad, to get out of the "tutorial hell" I signed up on codewars to start with beginner challanges, helps solidify my training.

[@mdtapilatu]

Exactly why i love this guy, keep up the good work

[@SO-kv5cc]

Thanks for the videos, I've just started learning and find your videos useful.

[@milansakic7833]

Last week i started internship in local Serbian company. I was learning past 13 months, and yours channel was super useful. Thanks for great content

[@neilpearce]

Top man Brad, your tutorials/courses are always great and you do dive deep into the 'why' not just the 'how'. However, I would like to mention and recommend Will Sentence as the way he teaches JS is superb. It goes so in depth that if you do lose your way he goes back over it again and again until it sticks - very good!!

[@rajeshramakrishnan4121]

That’s genuine golden nuggets .. thank you

[@shanemturner]

Great advice. I find myself exactly where you say even after recently completing a BSc in Computing & IT and purchasing many online courses. Just last week I started creating a complete invoice and payroll management system using good old fashioned research, Google and referencing the course I have purchased and watched. Thanks For the vid :)

[@Carl-yu6uw]

Yeh? Well good luck writing a payroll engine for UK localisation.. That's a lot of PAYE, NI rules, RTI, court orders, absence management / SSP, SMP, pension, penserver...

[@saichandra8839]

It's 2 am and I'm thinking how to get out of these tutorials and what to start building... This video popped up on KZbin suddenly... Right info at the right time... Keep inspiring Brad.. 🔥 The world of developers needs u...

[@urbanmunda2451]

I was struggling with this problem.this video kind of helped me.ty

[@UstadJi]

A Great Teacher And Even Better Mentor And Friend. Thank You Brad

[@user-wj3pv9xb8g]

Man you've helped me so much throughout my learning much respect and love for u God bless you man keep up the good work

[@gilangrakean9501]

Thanks for the video man. Really like this kind of talk :)

[@ran25257]

Thank you SO MUCH Brad. You helped me to Sort-out My Life !!!. I Owe You a Lot !!! Bless You !!!

[@wanafnanharizwanzahran8131]

Dude i really love ur cap man, caligraphy cap looks very dope !

[@hakzhub]

Thank you so much for this. I needed it. ✊🏽

[@akashnag3879]

Thanks for planning to put out DS and algorithm. I have just started with it and your videos will come handy.

[@deepakgupta-eg9lb]

I am very glad to see u first time. Your suggestions are very precious for us as freelancer

[@AunSuhel]

I went through a similar problem when i stopped working out the concepts myself. Will start on my own projects. Thanks a lot for the much needed push. And Get well Soon! :)

[@debjitkarmakar5523]

This video was an eye opener for me Thanks a lot 🔥🔥🔥👍

[@acuencadev]

Totally agree with you. When I am doing a course or watch a training video is just watch the use case part, pause the video and try to do it by myself (I also Google or check on stack overflow), then I compare the outcome. I have found out that sometimes I do not agree with the instructor, but at least I understand the intuition behind his code and I just evaluate which solution works the best for me.

[@mohammadurgur953]

My goood !!!! When I watched this, I laughed so I almost fell of my chair. This is EXACTLY how I feel. Sometimes I have the feeling that ok, I got it... Then, when trying to do something of my own, I´m totally lost, mixing parameters, using wrong text in wrong place. My goood. Thank you !

[@skyy_banerjee]

You're my hero Brad!