There was a period when I felt like I was making progress as a developer.I was watching tutorials. Taking courses. Learning new concepts. Saving resources. Watching someone build something and thinking, “Okay, I understand this now.”
Then I would move on to the next thing.
HTML? Done.
CSS? I understand it.
JavaScript? I know the basics.
React? Let me learn that next.
And then another tutorial would appear, followed by another course, another roadmap, another thing I felt I needed to know before I could really start building.
The problem was that I was learning a lot but building very little.
The Information Loop
Looking back, I realise I had fallen into a loop. I would learn something → feel like I understood it → move to something else → repeat. It felt productive because I was constantly consuming information. But when it came time to actually build something from scratch, things suddenly became different.
Knowing how something works when someone is explaining it to you is not the same as knowing how to use it when you're staring at a blank editor - I found that out.
That's where I started seeing the gap. I had knowledge, but I didn't have enough experience applying that knowledge. And experience comes from doing.
The Projects I Didn't Finish
I also had a few projects I started and abandoned. Some became too frustrating. Some were pushed aside because I thought I needed to learn something else first. And some simply lost momentum.
Eventually, I stepped away from coding for a while. Maybe I needed the break. Maybe I needed to get my head in the game. But coming back has given me a different perspective.
I don't think my biggest problem was that I didn't know enough. I think I was waiting to know enough before allowing myself to build. And that can become a very dangerous trap for a beginner.Because there is always something else to learn.
There will always be another tutorial. Another framework. Another concept. Another developer who seems to know much more than you.
If you keep waiting until you feel completely ready, you may never start.
One Small Project, A Big Lesson
Recently, I decided to stop overthinking it and actually build. I completed a small Frontend Mentor challenge — a Testimonials Grid project.
Now technically, it's not some massive application. But finishing it was important to me because this time, I started something and finished it. Now, I'm not saying that I haven't completed small projects in the past but this one is the reference point - where I got back in the saddle.
That simple achievement reminded me of something I had forgotten:
You don't become better at development by only learning about development. You become better by developing.
Every project exposes you to problems that tutorials cannot completely prepare you for.
You make mistakes.
You forget syntax.
You search Google.
You read documentation.
You try something that doesn't work.
You break something.
You fix it.
And eventually, you understand the concept in a way that simply watching a tutorial could never give you. That's experience.
What I'm Doing Differently Now
I'm not saying tutorials are bad. They're incredibly usefulm half of what I know about coding I got from tutorials. The problem is when tutorials become a substitute for practice. So I'm changing the way I learn.
Instead of thinking:
“Let me learn everything I need before I start.”
I'm trying to think:
“Let me start building, and I'll learn what I need along the way.”
I'll still watch tutorials.
I'll still take courses.
I'll still learn new technologies.
But I want projects to be at the centre of my learning.
Build. Get stuck. Learn. Fix. Finish. Repeat.
And this time, I want to document the journey.
Not because I have everything figured out, but because I don't.
I'm still learning.
I'm still making mistakes.
I'm still figuring out what kind of developer I want to become. But I'm moving. And honestly, that's what matters right now.
This is my commitment to getting better — one project at a time.
I hope someone out there finds what I found.
Top comments (1)
Finishing the Testimonials Grid after a stretch of abandoned projects is a meaningful reference point because it turns "I understand this" into evidence that you can carry something across the finish line. The blank-editor gap is where the real curriculum appears: forgotten syntax, broken layouts, documentation searches, and all. One practice that helps is defining a tiny "done" state before starting, then keeping a short friction log while building; those recurring blockers are a much better guide for the next tutorial than another roadmap.