Tutorial hell. It doesn't sound like a place where anyone would want to be for an extended period of time. But if you're following the self-taught route and new to the web development field, like I am, I feel that the many tutorials out there are a HUGE benefit.
When I first started my learning journey it was important for me to determine if I even liked computer programming and web development. I've never in my life taken a computer science class. I've always been familiar with computers, but never really paid too much attention to how they do what they do. So I enrolled in the Stanford University Computer Science 101 course through the edX learning platform. This very simple class took me 10 days and confirmed that I really liked the idea of computer programming.
Now what!?
At this point, I started to dive into the MANY learning platforms that are out there to determine which one would fit my learning style. I have always been a fast learner, but I prefer to really learn the fundamentals and the concepts before advancing. For this reason, I've been hesitant to join an in-person bootcamp. So I did my research and decided to primarily put my time into Udemy courses, as well as YouTube tutorials. There are many learning platforms that are free, some have a monthly and/or yearly subscription, others charge a fee specific to each class. Udemy is the latter and knowing that I wanted to really take my time I didn't want to be pressured by a monthly fee. In addition, I'm a visual learner so I knew I needed something with videos and not just text.
So....I signed up for the Web Developer Bootcamp by Colt Steele on Udemy. This course was not my first choice, but after reading many reviews and comparing this course to another bootcamp course on Udemy I finally settled on this one. Little did I know at the time, but Colt Steele is kind of a big deal. Once I started this course, I was hooked.
And this is when tutorial hell started.....
I couldn't get enough of YouTube - finding channels to subscribe to, watching videos discussing the same topic I had just learned in my Udemy course. Rinse and repeat.
However...In most cases, I found it very helpful to learn the material from a different teacher. It's a very fine line really. And it honestly depends on you. Do you feel like you learned the material well enough the first time through? Would a different perspective solidify the topic for you? I know that the many tutorials I watched slowed me down, but I feel like I thoroughly understand the concepts and because of that I can build a simple website.
My goal with this process is to achieve a new career by becoming a Web Developer. This is going to take time and nothing excites me more than what the next step will be. Maybe it will be another tutorial!!!
Below are some links to the many learning platforms that I researched at the start of my journey. I also included links to several YouTube channels that I subscribe to. Please do leave a comment about anything that has helped you in your journey!
- Online Computer Science Courses
- Learning Platforms
- YouTube Channels