My sister told me I was learning to code the wrong way

I was showing her my progress on a small website project, and she asked me how I built it. I said I followed a YouTube tutorial step-by-step. She works as a developer and said, 'If you just copy the code, you won't know how to fix it when it breaks.' She argued that beginners should start by writing their own broken code and learning to debug it, even if it takes twice as long. I've always looked for the 'right' way to do things from the start. Has anyone else switched from following tutorials exactly to trying to figure things out on their own first?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_logan1mo ago

My sister gave me the exact same lecture last year. I was using tutorials to build a simple budget app. Her point about debugging is valid, but starting from total scratch made me quit for three months out of frustration. Following a tutorial gave me the basic structure and confidence to even try. Now I tweak the tutorial code to do new things, which is where the real learning happens for me.

derekward1mo ago

It's like learning to cook. You follow a recipe exactly the first time, then you start changing ingredients. The tutorial gives you the basic recipe to work from.

ryan_ellis1mo ago

Your sister's "broken code first" method sounds like a great way to hate coding. Following a tutorial to see how a thing works is a totally fine place to start.