Common Pitfalls to avoid while learning web development through video courses

These are my own pitfalls that I ran into while learning web development.

I’ve been a full-stack developer for about 4 years now. I learned most of what I know through udemy courses. Along the way, I made many mistakes. Here are Five mistakes you should avoid while learning through video courses.

I actually started learning web development angela yu’s web development course. Along the way, I went through 20+ courses just on udemy and not counting other platforms (Youtube, Scrimba, etc..). I've gone through the tutorial hell and made my way to grabbing freelance projects from around the world.

Trying to finish the course in a hurry

this is the deadliest of all you should never be in a hurry while learning. never just go through the course lecture just for the sake of it. try to understand and replicate the stuff being taught. complete all the quizzes and questions given to you.

Not giving yourself time to utilize the knowledge you’ve gathered

What is the use of the knowledge if you don’t use it? You’ve to pause watching the video series for a day or two after watching it for a day or two. and actually, sit in front of a computer and try to recreate something you learned or use it to create something else on yours. that is when you will understand the reality of software engineering. you’ll come across new problems and then you’ll need to make a google search and solve the problem. doing this we will really build up the mind muscles around how to actually learn new stuff on your own.

Documentation is the source of truth not tutorial videos

I was never really a reader. But in the software engineering world, you’ve to read to get better. The one inevitable thing about software is they keep evolving and the tutorial videos get stale pretty easily unless the creator puts in extra affords which is quite rare. The habit of reading documentation and books by authors who are the best in the industry will really boost your ability to get into their positions in a relatively short period of time.

Not creating side projects

Side Projects are the only way to show that you know something. Side Projects I think are the key to solidifying your understanding of the tools you learn. You can start by solving your own problems, scratching your own ich they say, Or cloning existing solutions you like.

Not documenting or sharing your knowledge with others

One of the most effective techniques to solidify your understanding is to teach others, Write about the stuff you learned. Get into the habit of writing about the tools you learned in your own words. You can use tools like notion (this is what I use), google docs, notes app, etc. Or even start writing a blog that you share with others.

The power of writing is that it is demanding it requires you to think about the thing that you’re writing about and if you don’t understand the technical topic well enough then you’ll quickly realize that you need to go back and learn it once again.

Another beautiful consequence of writing notes is that once you learn a tool, you’ll be able to retrieve that knowledge in the shortest time.

There is a movement called learning in public. Basically sharing what you learn every day. This will actually help you to land a job and network with other people like you.

I recommend you read a building a second brain book by Tiago forte. Don’t worry it's not a book on coding.

If you've more then make sure to leave a comment.