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Had a senior dev tell me to stop using tutorials and just read docs
He said I'd learn faster by struggling through the actual docs instead of following YouTube step-by-step. Three months later I finally fixed a bug I'd been stuck on for 2 weeks by reading two paragraphs in the React docs. Tutorials gave me the illusion of progress, docs actually taught me. Anyone else have a similar wake-up call?
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oliver_baker491d ago
Started treating docs like a puzzle instead of a punishment. Printed out the React docs, highlighted stuff, made my own notes in the margins. Took forever at first but now I can actually trace through a component lifecycle without guessing. Tutorials never showed me error paths either. Docs will show you exactly why something breaks and how to fix it.
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blair9901d ago
Reminds me of something I read on a programming blog a while back. The guy said tutorials are like training wheels that never come off until you crash. I used to watch hours of React tutorials, copy everything, and feel like I knew stuff. Then I'd try to build something on my own and get totally lost. The docs are brutal at first, no question. But they force you to actually understand the pieces instead of just following along like a robot. Reading the actual docs feels slow and painful at first but it sticks way better in the long run.
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andrew_baker91d ago
Yeah the "feeling like I knew stuff" part hit a little too close to home. I've definitely spent a weekend glued to a tutorial thinking I was basically a pro, only to realize the next day I couldn't even remember how to write a simple for loop without YouTube holding my hand.
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