Why I Started Building React Projects Instead of Just Watching Tutorials ?

Abhavya Gupta — Mon, 25 May 2026 12:25:16 +0000

Yes, I was just like many beginners.

I used to spend hours watching React tutorials and at the end of the day, I felt productive just because I had completed another video or another playlist.

But after some time, I realized something important:
Watching tutorials is not the same as building skills.

I knew the concepts while watching the instructor code, but the moment I tried to build something on my own, everything suddenly felt difficult.
I would forget syntax.
I would get confused while managing components.
Sometimes even small errors would take hours to fix.

That was the moment I understood that real learning starts only when you begin building your own projects.

So instead of spending all my time consuming tutorials, I decided to start creating projects on my own, even if they were small, imperfect or unfinished.

At first, it was frustrating.
I got stuck almost every day.
There were moments when nothing worked.
Sometimes a tiny mistake in the code would break the entire project and I would spend hours trying to figure it out.

But slowly, those struggles started teaching me things that tutorials never could.

I learned how to debug errors.
I learned how components actually communicate with each other.
I learned how state management works in real projects instead of simple counter examples.

Most importantly, I became more confident while coding independently.

One thing I noticed is that tutorials often make coding look smooth and easy because everything is already planned. But when you build your own project, you have to think like a real developer.

You have to:
• Plan the UI
• Decide component structure
• Manage state properly
• Fix unexpected bugs
• Search documentation
• Learn how to solve problems independently

And honestly, that is where the real growth happens.
Building projects completely changed the way I learn React.

Instead of asking:
“How do I finish another tutorial?”

I started asking:
“How do I build something useful with what I already know?”

That mindset helped me improve much faster.

Even today, I still watch tutorials sometimes.
But now I use them as guidance, not as a replacement for practice.

If you are currently learning React or frontend development, my biggest advice would be:
Start building projects as early as possible.

Your projects do not need to be perfect.
They do not need advanced animations or complicated backend systems.

Even a small project can teach you a lot if you build it yourself.

Because at the end of the day, projects teach you what tutorials cannot….

DEV Community: Abhavya Gupta

Why I Started Building React Projects Instead of Just Watching Tutorials ?