Break Before You Learn? Or Learn Before You Break?

So here’s what happened.

It was around 5AM. I was doing the Backend Development & API course on freeCodeCamp. Felt good. Until it didn’t.

They asked me to update a version number in the package.json file. Should be easy, right?

But I froze. I knew what a JSON file looked like. But suddenly I was clueless — like, where does this change fit? What does this version do?

Still, I changed it. And forgot a comma.

Boom. Everything broke.

I’d watched hours of tutorials, earned certificates… but I still couldn’t think like a developer..

That’s when I started asking something deeper.

How Do the Real Ones Learn Without All This?

The hackers, The school dropouts the ones who ended up writing worms, cracking systems, or building software from scratch.

They didn’t have freeCodeCamp or courses or roadmaps or anything.

So how did they learn.?

That’s when I got curious….

How do people who didn’t go through traditional stuff — become legends? Like actually understand systems, write exploits, build tools, whatever?

They didn’t start by learning about things. They started by messing with things. They learned by breaking.

So I did a little digging — and found out there’s a full-on science behind it.

I Coined These Two Styles of Learning

And I came up with names for both ends….

• Learn Before You Break (LBYB) — the classroom-friendly route. Structured. Linear. You learn the syntax, the rules, the concepts. You don’t touch the system until you’ve memorized how it’s “supposed to work.”

• Break Before You Learn (BBYL) — the hacker route. You don’t wait. You poke around, break stuff, then learn what you just broke.

LBYB is Structured(like reading a cookbook for days before you cook anything.

BBYL? You start the journey without any clue where you’re going — and build the map on the way.

But it can also lead to what I call “tutorial trap syndrome” — where you know about coding but can’t code.

And honestly? The best learners I’ve seen? They don’t stick to one side. They just loop between the two.

Like me and that missing comma. I never learned more about JSON versioning than I did after crashing that app.

Okay But Let’s Talk Science — Why Does This Even Work?

See, I’m not a biology student . I don’t explain things using “neurons” or “synapses”. I explain it the way I understand it — like a CS student.

So imagine your brain like your system’s RAM. It can only take so much at once.

There’s this theory called Cognitive Load Theory — it’s basically saying your brain crashes when too many tasks run at once.

So What’s This “Cognitive Load” Really About?

It breaks the “load” into three types……

• Intrinsic Load — The actual complexity of what you’re trying to learn. Like, recursion is just hard.

• Extraneous Load — Unnecessary stuff. Like messy explanations or when a tutorial assumes you’re already a pro.

• Germane Load — The good struggle. The kind that makes your brain actually build understanding.

LBYB is like RAM optimization. Clean instructions, clear steps, no overload. But if it’s too passive? Your brain doesn’t struggle. And without that effort, nothing really sticks.

BBYL, on the other hand, throws you straight into the fire. It overloads you, yes — but that’s where the real understanding starts forming. You debug, you fail, and boom — that fix hits different.

Why You Feel Dead Inside After Some Courses

You started with curiosity. But halfway in, you’re just collecting certificates. That’s overjustification. Your brain forgot why you started.

BBYL fixes that because it’s raw. No points. No progress bar. Just “will this work?” followed by “why didn’t it?”

That curiosity is intrinsic motivation. And it’s way more powerful than any Udemy badge.

Dunning-Kruger — Every Beginner’s Brain

I have already writen article on that based on my personal experince have time go through it…..

LBYB can make you feel smarter than you are — because it’s scaffolded. You follow along, get it right, and think you’ve mastered it.

Then BBYL hits. You try to build something — and everything breaks.

It’s humbling. And that’s a good thing.

BBYL slaps you with reality, which forces you to self-assess. It upgrades your metacognition — your ability to know what you don’t know.

Why You Remember The Hard Way Better (My Experience)

That one bug that took you 20 min to fix? You’ll never forget it.

That’s called Desirable Difficulty. Your brain remembers things better when there’s actual struggle involved.

And when that bug makes you feel something — like frustration, or that mini-celebration when it works — your brain tags that memory as important.

So LBYB? It explains.
BBYL? It scars.
And we tend to remember scars better than notes.

Flow State Without Realizing It?

There’s something called a flow state,Where you’re just deep into the code(Maybe for your project), and time disappears.

BBYL drops you into flow naturally. You’ve got a real bug. A real goal. Instant feedback.

LBYB, not so much. It’s slow. Passive. It’s like learning swimming from a book.

BBYL? You’re already in the pool.

What Happens If You Go All In On Just One Style?

Here’s the real glitch….

• Go full LBYB? You get theory but freeze on real-world problems.

• Go full BBYL? You drown without a map.

The fix? Loop between the two.

Use LBYB to get the basics. Switch to BBYL to break stuff. Learn from the break. Go back to LBYB to patch your gaps. Then break better next time.

That’s literally how most educational frameworks are built today — like PRIMM (Predict, Run, Investigate, Modify, Make) and Use-Modify-Create.

It’s not a choice. It’s a cycle.

So What’s The Final Verdict ?

As a CS student, I’ll be honest…..

LBYB done right does work.

CS programs teach theory. And that’s good — structure, algorithms, concepts.

But they often avoid failure.

So when grads face real projects, they sometimes freeze.
Because theory didn’t prepare them for errors.

That’s where BBYL learners tend to adapt faster — 
They’ve already been punched by bugs.

So, Where Did I Even Learn All This?

By the way — I didn’t just pull this fromChatgpt..

I’ve binge-watched more psychology breakdowns than I can count just to make sense of how learning actually works. One YouTube channel that really helped was Sprouts. If you’re into motivation theory, memory, or learning models, they’ve got these cool animated explainer videos that break it all down without sounding like a textbook.

A lot of the ideas I talked about here — like Cognitive Load Theory, Desirable Difficulty, and Intrinsic Motivation — started making sense only after I connected my own learning journey with what psychology research actually says.

So if you want to go deeper, just search Sprouts on YouTube. You’ll find gold.

Final Thought

This article isn’t me teaching. It’s me figuring things out in public.

And if there’s one thing I can say for sure?

Sometimes, the bug that breaks everything is the one that teaches you the most.

Not because you fixed it.
But because you finally had a reason to understand why it broke in the first place.