This article was written by Erik Trautman, the founder of The Odin Project.
What every beginner absolutely needs to know about the journe...
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Just started the Odin project today (20/3/2025), and I am so excited to begin this overwhelming but fascinating journey myself! I am going to take the Foundations course and then move to the Full Stack JS course.
Thank you for making this awesome post, which made me motivated, and now I am ready to persevere and grind every single day !!
I'm just embarking on this long and arduous journey now. Which stage are you in? Are you still in the honeymoon period, or have you reached the cliff of confusion? I know we have a long desert of despair to cross before we reach the upswing of awesome. You know what my greatest fear is? My age. At 34, I'm constantly haunted by an inner voice asking if starting this journey is a wise move. 👍
I'm 31, and started TOP in Oct, 2025. So far I'm loving the journey.
im starting this today, is it beginner friendly?
This is not beginner friendly but it is something for which your future self will thank you for. It will make you the real developer not the one who always depended on others
Just do it
This post is gold!
You should probably also mention the Dunning-Kruger effect.
Just getting starting with The Odin Project.
Great article! My favorite line is:
"You're learning faster and more intelligently than ever before and, eventually, you will have absorbed enough best practices that your swiss cheese knowledge coalesces into a production-grade skill set."
Also, I found a little typo:
If you're able to identify a path and stick with it, you'll eventually push forward to the next phase instead of spending months or years chasing mirages across the shifting sands of the this desert.
All the best,
Dave Adams
I started The Odin Project today, and it really resonated with me. I’ve always had the mindset of “I can learn this in just a month,” but that approach hasn’t worked out well. I keep questioning whether the resources I’m following are the right ones and constantly second-guessing my choices: “What if I choose this one? What if that one is better?” All the self-doubt has kept me from starting a project on my own. I’ve been stuck in this cycle for too long. Thanks to this article, I’m now aware that this is just a phase and that I need to keep moving forward. I believe The Odin Project will be a solid starting point for me.
I am new as well. We can do this if we stick with it!
i started a couple days ago, i want to build a study group for morale, focus and inspiration. nothing like friends to share the struggle with!
Hi @johan20000819 I'm looking forward to working with you. I just joined and are beginning my journey today. Let's keep going everyone
I am glad to hear! maybe we could make a group chat on discord, of people in similar learning times
A study group sounds like a fine idea! I just started yesterday, coming from a surface level web design/graphic design background. I look forward to deepening my skills with like-minded learners!
Honestly this is just the advice I needed. I felt as I was stuck on the Desert of Despair for the longest time and because of it I took a step back from coding and my skills regress. Glad to find this article and the Odin project on my path to becoming a web developer
This hits home
Thank Richard, best wishes on working through freeCodeCamp!
What a cool journey we're on!
This is such an eye opener for a kid like me who wanted to jump right into coding with all the cool looking courses that internet offered to make a life changing moment. This is a hard hit on my expectations while it also reminds me that path ahead is not easy as it may sound and I need the willpower and focus to push through. I just started the odin project today and I would like to learn it along with someone like me who is uncertain of this path and grow together. I have always believed that teaching others what you know and learning from them of what you don't is the best way of learning. Well please do contact me in discord -
noah_osmont._.or by mail to charancodes@proton.me
I started learning programming between 2013 and 2016 during high school. However, the whole course was just Java (the one with the coffee), and only in the 5th semester did I start to see web development and fall in love with it. I did a graduation project using HTML, CSS, JS, PHP and a database, hosted via Xampp. But I'm from a humanities background and ended up forgetting everything. I studied History, now I work as an HR assistant and I always find myself wanting to study front-end development. However, many courses teach programming logic, and I understand it, but I can't visualize it. I'm very much a visual learner and this has prevented me from moving forward. I learn more easily if I see a
forloop being applied directly to a website, instead of being asked to do aconsole.log. I started The Odin Project today and I hope to learn a lot.I am 'restarting' The Odin Project today - Wed 15 Apr 2026. I have been down this road a couple of times before, but did not complete it. Looking back, I can see that the distractions came from the urge/curiosity - for lack of better words - in trying some other stuff that could 'make me money faster' - even though I always knew I wanted to end up as a software developer. I did make some money in digital marketing, learn testing automation, and project management, which are all good, but not fulfilling for the long-term goals I'm craving for. So now, I am back for a full commitment. I would like to work with a partner who is also starting or has probably gone in a bit, so we can do pair programming and pull ourselves up when the 'desert of despair' eventually comes. You can send me an email at ubongudotai@gmail.com or contact me on X @andreudotai. See you at 'Job ready'!.
Excellent article. It really resonates with me.
I made it through a reputable boot camp three months ago, but I can see now I was firmly stuck gazing in fear over the Cliff of Confusion. I'm excited to fill in the Swiss cheese holes in my knowledge by working through The Odin Project.
I have no words to describe the familiarity, clarity and realism in this post, I will make sure to share it with anyone beginner in programming, so he takes the right path from the beginning of his journey.
I have been jumping between the mountains of resources out there, the frustration and despair kept growing inside me, but this post cleared my vision and thoughts without a doubt, drawing a clear a path in my head to what I should do.
I started the Oden Project on 25 June 2025, I will stick with only it, I don't have a vision into future, so I don't know what I will encounter in my journey, but I will make sure to keep my passion high and build as much as I can, I will keep moving forward until my name shine in the industry of Web Dev, wish good luck my friends as I wish all of you the same.
Same start date! Good luck!
I'm excited to see where this journey will take both of us, good luck ^^!
Hi there, I've just started the Odin Project, today is the (10/08/2025). I've done a few tutorials over the years, but I haven't built anything. I was in template and tutorial hell for a while so this article was definitely enjoyable because I don't feel as alone in my journey towards becoming a full stack developer.
Thank you so much! It made me realize that my feelings lately are valid. It motivates me to be not scared of trying new things. Btw, I'm just started Odin project today. I really hope that I can finish this until the end of the lesson. :)
I just accepted a job to create a website for a local tattoo studio + I feel like I know what I'm doing but I'm suspicious of how easy it seems like this project is going to be lol. I've got experience in a few of the major languages I need to use because of my software engineering degree, but I was SO bad at that course because I thought it was intensely boring. Hopefully the Odin Project means I can find a passion for this and maybe go into freelance webdev:)
Thank you for the guideness sir, i really love to learn by self taught and this odin project also doing that way with documentation. i think today my motivation was so high because of its my phase 0 ,but gradually i build learning as system not just a goal , i will do it consistently and im also so eager to take my first step on this and good to see you all foks, stay with touch i will update it...
Amazing post; I loved it. I started learning code 1.5 years ago, but I think I need to relearn due to fundamental gaps. So, I decided to start from scratch by following the Odin Project. Pray for me, guys. I also pray for everyone who has started this journey or wants to start. Best of luck, everybody!🤲🏻
Hey all, I recently started the Odin project and have a fair idea of HTML, CSS, and JS, but am going through the foundations course right now, planning to take the full stack web developer path. I also have some experience in Java and cloud fundamentals in Azure. Looking for dedicated learners to pair up with so we can support each other in the learning process!
Just started my journey today, after making a tough decision to leave my marketing career behind, i'm 20 so i know i still have plenty of time to learn, fail, iterate and improve... reading this article also prepares my mind for what's to come, pretty sure i'd be back here occasionally when things get hard.
This article clearly shows all kinds of troubles we will face this one is really is a good one for starters, I just started this "THE ODIN PROJECT" today and I will re-comment after completion.
All the best to you all.
Having a solid understanding in HTML/CSS I'm now trying to embark on learning JS - Just started the Odin Project and its ACE! We've got this folks, it'll be one hell of a journey, but one well worth the time. 🤪
while you are already just surviving and not living, sometimes the sheer volume of things to learn is overwhelming on its own. Add the current 'AI Rush' into the mix, and it makes sense why someone would need to step away from coding for a bit. Returning is often the hardest part. Like Andrej Karpathy recently noted,
But eventually, you wake up and realize you just have to push through the noise. It’s hard for everyone, and I am incredibly grateful for the internet, The Odin Project, and resources like NeetCode. I am tired of starting and stopping, so I am leaving this comment here as a hard commitment to myself. If I am ever on the verge of quitting again, maybe someone in the community will see this and drop a reply to keep me accountable. We are all in the same boat. There is no shame in struggling, we are all just learning, and there is no reason we shouldn't feel confident moving forward.
Hey Everyone, today (24/06/2026) marks my day of beginning The Odin Project.
Im 28 with 2 yoe in web development, but i thought of cementing my foundation in the age of AI so that I can have a deeper understanding of whats happening under the hood.
Thank you Erik for this wonderful path.
Just started the Odin Project. This will be a great test of my determination, patience and resilience. Would like to network with anyone who is a beginner like myself to help. Our goal would be to support each other and share ideas. I'm also willing to be a student of any possible mentors in the field of a Full Stack Dev.
Hi Talon,
Hope the journey is going well for you. I just started and would be interested to network. If you have discord feel free to add me: smandev
I’m 31, and I just started learning this TOP curriculum in October 2025. In the HTML and CSS course, I thought it was too easy, but when I entered the JavaScript course, I suddenly realized why people say ‘code is hard’. However, I’m loving the journey so far and keep pushing myself every day.
Thank you, TOP community, for providing this amazing learning platform for people like me.
Erik Trautman’s breakdown of the four phases of learning to code resonates so strongly with my own experience and what I’ve seen in others. The ‘Hand-Holding Honeymoon’ really captures the excitement of early tutorials and gamified challenges, and the way he describes the sudden drop into the ‘Cliff of Confusion’ mirrors the shock of trying to build something from scratch without guidance. I particularly appreciated the explanation of Resource Density and Scope of Knowledge — it’s such an accurate lens for why the Desert of Despair feels so overwhelming, and why persistence and focus are critical. The Upswing of Awesome perfectly captures the bittersweet stage where you can build functional apps but still feel like a newbie under the hood, highlighting the importance of feedback, best practices, and polishing one’s code to professional standards. This article isn’t just motivational; it’s a practical map for anyone serious about surviving and thriving in the coding journey."
Thank you to all the contributors who created this article for aspiring web developers. I also want to thank the beginners reading, digesting, and applying this knowledge while striving to reach their goals. To those who started The Odin Project but couldn't finish: you didn't fail. As the saying goes, "Time and unexpected events overtake us all." Sometimes we have the right mindset but life gets in the way. Shifting to another course is perfectly fine, but remember that nothing good comes easy. Personally, this article has given me a broad perspective and taught me to think outside the box. Based on my research from YouTube and online articles, I know this project will be highly challenging, but I am determined to complete it. If anyone is starting out and wants an accountability partner or collaborator, I would love to connect. Two heads are better than one, and great things take time! Feel free to reach out to me on WhatsApp at +250 738 566 77.
Thank you for this amazing post. This somewhat sums up my experiences so far. I took a bootcamp, I ended at the tail end of Cliff of Confusion and at the mouth of Despair. Felt like a fraud. I hope I can get past these, this time!
Started the odim project now 29/05/2025, and im in love with the project and the propose it has, i started by the foundations course and discovered this post made by the creatro that just gave me a map with all the steps i will face and problems i will have. i will not stop until i fell that im a real programmer and can do things with confidence.
thanks to everybody that put love to make this possible, i promisse that i will use it to make it happens and become a developer.
As a person who started 4 yrs ago, and near to "job" ready, gotta confess that it wasn't easy... but it was EXTREMELY FUN & REWARDING! I'd say that you won't regret this thing if u do it properly...
I was thinking of coaching some beginners...
Anybody interested?
I come from a civil engineering background. Recently, I’ve been trying to automate my tasks through coding. In the last 2 months, I finished my “hand-holding” phase and have now set out a clear path forward with my tech stack:
Starting today (17/06/25), I decided to invest my time into The Odin Project to complete my first three goals: mastering HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and later I’ll move to FreeCodeCamp for Python.
My end goal is to build real-world solutions that solve problems I face in my field.
I’m always open to suggestions. If there’s a tool, concept, or path you think I should explore, feel free to share!
I have wanted to take this course for years and I am finally able to. I am so excited to dive in! I am grateful for this article because it breaks down the reality of learning development and the journey through each phase... all the way to employment. This was a great read!
This is a great article that clearly describes the arduous journey of web development without exaggeration. On one hand, it discourages the naysayers and dispels the fears and intimidation associated with code. On the other hand, it also warns those who are overly hopeful or irrationally exuberant.
Such an eye opener. Honestly, I spent way more time reading, introspecting and grasping the teachings than I normally would, but damn is it worth it! I honestly wish someone would have recommended me this sooner.
As someone wandering the Desert of Despair for quite some time; it honestly felt as if the Mr. Erik knew me inside out. All my worries, problems, shortcomings and acute advice to overcome them, all condensed into one.
I would again request everyone to not just read it/skim it but rather absorb it (if that makes any sense) and *reread it again and again. *
BEST OF LUCK!
Just started the Odin project today (17/09/2025), and I am so excited to begin this overwhelming but excellent journey! I actually think I am gonna do the Foundations course and then move to the Full Stack JS course, but still thinking about Ruby on Rails.
Thank you for this awesome post.
I am starting The Odin Project today
Hello to everyone reading this!
I’m starting The Odin Project today, May 8th, 2026. Since it’s the weekend here, I figured it was the perfect time to finally dive in. After a lot of research and trying out different courses, I found TOP to be amazing and truly unique compared to other resources online.
Now it’s time to jump in and start this beautiful journey. Wishing you all the best!😊
Thanks, this really brings some understanding to the fact that I still don't understand a lot :) Hopefully in the future, thanks to the Odin project, I'll start to misunderstand a little less.
The odin project brought me here. I've started and stopped learning how to program so many times before. After reading this article, I now know why that is. I'm excited to take a different approach to learning these skills that I so want to learn.
Started learning through an app on my phone and realized one of the problems outlined here- I'm going to have NO clue what I'm doing when pushed off that cliff if I go that route. Just came across the Odin Project and this article and honestly it makes me just that much more determined to push myself through this. Thank you for that.
Just started the Odin Project today (06-0602025), and i am so happy about walking this path of life. i will be starting the foundational courses and then choose the next course which is best suitable for me.
Here I am first day of August 4th, 2025, deciding to embark on this journey to hopefully change my life. I have very little experience in this field, so I know there will be difficult times ahead but Im not going to give up. I wish everyone good luck and future success!!!!
Thank you so much for the post, it is really motivating and now I am ready to start the journey of learning the courses with the right mindsets.
Wishing myself the very best.
Start my journey to ( 25th of sept 2025).
Just started the Odin project today "19/8/2025" (maybe a little late to the party), and I am so excited to begin this overwhelming but fascinating journey myself! I am going to take the Foundations course and then move to the Full Stack JS course.
Thank you for making this awesome post, which made me motivated, and now I am ready to persevere and grind every single day !!
Hello everyone, I'm currently pursuing a degree in Computer Science. I will be graduating soon and I've come here to act as a sponge, I'm trying to soak up all of the information in this space and sometime feel as if I'm not smart enough to be here. I guess that's part of the journey. I just started the Odin Project today (11/03/2025) and I wish every single one of you the best of luck on your journey and I hope you reach your end goal. <3
Today 8/17/2025 is my starting date. I do love the post and i look forward to an awesome ending. I hope to pass through the phases and get things done.
Incase if you have a group meant to sharing knowledge about programming do reply to my post.
Thanks.
This was an incredible read. I discovered The Odin Project and, despite my initial skepticism about starting over, I decided to continue because it offers a clear path to my goals. This blog post helped me understand my current phase in the journey, and I'm feeling more motivated.
I just started the Odin Project today (23/09/2025) and would love to embark on this long but fascinating journey! I am thinking of taking the Foundations course, and then moving on to the Full Stack JS course, although I haven't made a final decision yet.
This post was awesome and has motivated me for the long journey ahead, despite the "trauma of learning to code".
I am writing this to hold myself accountable. Starting as of 11/04/2025, in the midst of dropping out of University as a junior as my time here has been unfulfilling from a learning standpoint and the environment here hasn't been conducive to my learning.
I've dabbled with JS and some IDEs but haven't produced any projects worth while and "lectures" have just been soul siphoning. I am taking initiative of my life, understanding that the circumstance I'm in currently doesn't have to be permanent. I will complete this course and hope to collab with one of you future developers soon too!
I pray that I someday learn all the necessary skills to attain a job in such a competitive and lucrative industry without a traditional degree. Cheers to each and every one of your guys' journey!
Just started the Odin Project 08/20/2025. I take many other courses before from other platforms which offers "complete full-stack web development". But like this article says this is a market strategy. I will share my progress under this comment. See you on the finish line guys!
23rd Feb 2026... This post tells me I am not the problem and then shows me the way out of this maze. This is my time capsule entry today. I will be back to say I made it through the desert of despair to the upswing of awesome. 🤞🏻
Thank you all for a quick breakdown before melt down. I think I'm prepared for my upcoming failures, but I am resilient, and I'll smile and laugh now and probably certain I'll cry more than once in frustration, but I know at climax the reward will be worth all the effort and work I invest..once again. Thank you - just a newbie with big dreams.
Ok, here goes. Be careful what you wish for, as the saying goes. I'm already two feet in so here's to digging deep and grinding it out even when some days could feel like I'm sinking in the desert of despair! Thank you for this honest but motivating article.
I can completely correlate with the post Erik has written. Thank you for the heads-up and showing the true picture of the hassles we are about to face..
I am going to start it today April 16th 2025 and looking forward to learn through this amazing platform.
Thank you mates!
Thank you! I am ready to jump right in! I appreciate the honesty of how this journey can be. I am already a Software Engineer Bootcamp graduate, and I felt all of the phases that were described in your article. I don't feel so alone now. I believed that there was simply something wrong with my learning style. It all makes sense now. Thank you!
Thank you for the post. More than the content, I admire the language you've employed to deliver the content. It was very fun to read and counter-intuitively, the post gives the momentum to the reader to accomplish his/her goals!
Thank you for writing this post, it clarified doubts and concepts that I had no idea existed.
Knowing the goal you want to achieve is necessary, however, what was explained in this post shows how important it is to know what is on the way to your goal.
I started The Odin Project today, and I made a big commitment to myself, and I know that this will completely change my life beyond my professional life. 🚀
If I can give one piece of advice to those who are just starting out (like me), make sure you have a clear goal and what makes you want to achieve it, this will be your daily motivator for each line of code written! 💡
Contact me!
github.com/bcstaslva
I just started The Odin Project today (24/03/2025). I’m am more then excited to begin this new chapter in life. I am currently attending a 2 year college program while doing this as well :). I wish every aspiring developer a happy and fulfilling journey.
Greetings all!
This is day for the 3rd time, coding is something that just something I can’t escape. I haven’t gotten discouraged, but life happens and I had to refocus. I am here to learn and network. I’m ready for the challenges ahead, even though one can’t be ready for it all. After reading this article I’m ready to tackle what comes my way. Bring it on!
Thanks!
I'm starting today 31/3/2025. I have no experience with HTML/CSS/JS......But I'm willing to learn no matter how difficult it gets, I'm gonna show up everyday, go through the material and build stuff on my own...Good luck me!
Yeah same with Me, just do it
I've been doing these "roundabouts" for about three years, I've been so inconsistency and this really puts it into perspective. If you see this post and you're interested in joining my discord server where we keep ourselves accountable and share knowledge, please join this link
Thank you for this thoughtful article. It made me wonder if other types of learning too—like acquiring a new language—follow similar phases. I’ll do my best to manage my expectations because, as was pointed out, the beginning feels easy, but pushing through when things get tough is the real challenge. I’m already bracing myself for the inevitable imposter syndrome!
That said, a part of me feels like I’m finally returning to my roots. Back when I was around 12, I poured my free time on building various websites, including copying dictionaries by hand to make them searchable online. Because I had genuinely loved it, I’ve always had some regret about not pursuing web development as a career, but reading this reminded me that it’s still not too late to change that. I really appreciate the project's existence, the passion and drive behind it, and the resources you’ve put together—thanks to them, it makes diving back in feel a lot more possible.
This impostor syndrome has been haunting me for years, and I do not know how I will push it far away from me. I hope to use this opportunity to do just that and focus on my journey.
I've made an account here just to say that I've never read something as relatable as this post. I was trying different things before sticking with android development and now I'm clearly in the desert of despair phase. Right now I'm taking a break.. hopefully a break, and I picked up the Odin project today as I was also thinking about building a personal website sometime in the future, thank you for this awesome course and this blog post.
Interesting!
I have been trying to learn web dev close to a year with no progress at all.
Very frustrating to have gone through tutorial hell and yet unable to do any coding on my own.
Reading through this material has given me view to task ahead and roadmap to follow.
Thanks
nothing feels better than starting with a post like this that gives you the perfect picture of what lies ahead...just started the odin project.
let the journey begin...to other starters like myslef, see you on the green side
started the Odin Project today, and I'm all set to start this journey to become a developer. This post was great way to make new developers aware of the challenges they might face. After finishing 1st year of my 4 year CS degree, I've realized my degree isn't going to help much and so I'm ready to figure out my own path.
the odin project seems an interesting road to walk.
I have a lot of scatered knowledge about coding and stuff, but what I need the most is a way to get passed the CoC and move bravely to the DoD.
so, I decided to take on this odin road, maybe It will get me where I want.
"I’ve really been going back and forth, jumping from one resource to another trying to learn different coding concepts. Reading this post means a lot to me—thank you. It’s motivating, as always, but more importantly, it reminds me that I’m not alone. Almost everyone learning to code seems to go through these same struggles. I’m currently working on building more persistence and consistency in my journey."
I first attempted TOP and edX’s CS50 back in 2022. I barely knew what I was doing then and ended up quitting halfway through. I had IT and my final year to focus on, so I stepped away.
I finally graduated in December 2023 with a degree in Environmental Biology, and since then, I’ve been trying to find myself.
Today, April 24th, 2025, I’m back on the horse.
I’ve put this off for a long time, but reading this article gave me the push I needed. If I had come across it back when I first started, maybe I wouldn’t have quit. It’s helped solidify my resolve, I’m going to push through, no matter how hard it gets.
I’m writing this as proof for myself. Something to look back on if I ever feel like giving up again.
Thank you for the words. They made me feel like I caught a glimpse of the future, and now I have the tools to face it head-on.
today i started the Odin project, definitely in the honeymoon stage right now ahaha im very excited and have a big project in mind down the road :) this was a great post on putting things into perspective !
I wanted to mark the date, when I'm starting my journey of becoming a developer. I have tried before, but this time I'm dedicated to finally reach my goal. Starting the Odin project on 11/11/2025. Cheers to all, who dare to challenge themselves. YOU CAN DO IT.
Have been trying to code but have been stuck in this honey moon / Cliff of confusion / Desert of despair, have learned over a long time "Longer then id be willing to admit" and have massive gaps in even simple areas.
focusing on
HTML & CSS
JavaScript
React
Python
PostgreSQL
Goal is to be able to fully write ML/RL without need of following guides on simple syntax. And to be able to build out front end/back end
06/17/2025
it's august 23 i will follow along the course of this odin project i will see what are the changes happening to me and if i am able to build projects, what i wanted is to build an iot related or any good website and secure a job successefully at the end of the course what important is that i keep learning and not giveup and be updated as per industry standard and make plan and follow along that my goal is to get a job at 1 jan 2026 or before it.
So The Odin Project has led me here as of 22/10/2025, this post really gave an insight on how pursuing this will have its ups and downs. I just want to thank for the information that is provided here really amazing!
Thanks for the advice, I just started the Odin project, on 9 sep 2025, I am totally new to coding and developing and would like to participate in groups to increase our collective chances to persevere through these phases. Good luck guys and gals.