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Beginners be careful: compared Udemy vs freeCodeCamp for 3 months each
I spent 3 months on Udemy trying to learn Python with a course that had 50+ hours of video. Felt like I was making progress but then I couldnt build anything on my own. Switched to freeCodeCamp for another 3 months and the difference was night and day. Their projects forced me to actually write code every single day instead of just watching someone else do it. After 6 months total I landed my first freelance gig doing basic web scraping, something I never would have managed with just the Udemy videos. Anyone else hit a wall with video-heavy courses and had to switch to more hands-on stuff?
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carter.julia8d ago
Video courses give you a false sense of accomplishment. Your brain feels smart but your hands stay dumb. I had the exact same problem with a JavaScript course. Watched 40 hours of tutorials then froze when I had to write a simple function. The real kicker is that most beginner courses are designed to keep you watching not to make you independent. They want those platform engagement numbers. Hands on learning like freeCodeCamp forces you to hit the error wall early and figure out how to climb over it. That struggle is the actual learning path.
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ross.jason8d ago
You know what, I used to be all about video courses. I thought they were the best way to learn because you could just sit back and absorb everything. But reading this really hit me hard because I went through the exact same thing with a Python course. I watched like 30 hours of someone building projects and felt so smart, then when I tried to write my own script to sort some files I just stared at a blank editor for an hour. It honestly made me feel like I was just bad at learning or something. But you're right, those platforms want you to keep watching and keep that play button going. I switched over to just doing small projects from scratch and it was way harder but I actually remember stuff now. The error wall thing is real, I've spent whole evenings debugging one line of code but I'll never forget how to fix that problem again.
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