Disclaimer: This does not mean you should abandon all tutorials. They are valuable a way of beginning your learning of new topics.
The principal that I aim for us to understand today is that by taking a step back from watching the tutorials and instead applying our time towards creating content for others, as learners we can begin to have a deeper understanding of the concepts that we are struggling with. Its not enough to get the hang of it, because what are you really learning by copying and pasting? Yes, you are learning to recognize patterns, but do you understand why it works? Would you be able to explain why a function doesn’t work and how to fix it if a close friend or colleague asked for assistance?
The further along in programming you go, the harder it becomes, but one thing that many professionals in the field state consistently is that everyone needs to have a solid foundation in the fundamentals of their beginning programming language. No one wants to feel incompetent (or like an imposter) when it comes to programming, and where people struggle during their learning experience is understanding is how to apply what they have previously learned in the tutorial, because they never asked themselves “Why is this function being written the way it is?”, “What other scenarios can this be applied to?”, “Are there other ways I could have written a solution that solved the same problem?”, etc.
How does making a tutorial help me answer these questions?
Simple, it forces you to go down the rabbit hole so that you can better prepare a ‘lesson plan’.
For example, in a function you have to start discovering all of its aspects, starting with what is involved in establishing a declaration/statement, what makes an expression different from an declaration, how the scope of a function can be limited based on how its variables are defined, why would you want to nest a function within a function, etc.
Every time you can answer one of these questions begin to think about how you can apply them to your “lessons” or short projects. The purpose of these projects is to help you translate what you have learned into a product that will not only help cement your understanding of the concept, but through you explaining in writing or verbally, will help others better grasp the same concepts that they may be having trouble with.
For me, moving forward when I begin working on tutorials, I will be establishing what concepts are being explored as focus points. Keep in mind that the practice of creating a project and tutorial is more to enhance your learning of the subject rather than anybody else.
Once you can begin to overcome your own concerns on your areas of struggle, then you will begin to feel a sense of mastery that will help you overall in your self-confidence and your ability to be someone that can assist others in their times of need.
Written by: Orion Palmer