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They don't justify any of this advice that goes against the prevailing wisdom of "just build something". Beyond some book recommendations this isn't very useful

They don't justify any of this advice that goes against the prevailing wisdom of "just build something". Beyond some book recommendations this isn't very useful.

watwut 6y ago
Just build something is not prevailing wisdom and most people don't learn that way. It is non answer we give when we have no idea how to answer.
- chaos_a 6y ago
  I personally prefer learning programming languages by making a project/program with it, it's a far more practical and interesting way of learning new programming language. I realize it's probably not the best way to learn, there's the chance of not learning a simpler or better method. But I personally just don't have the attention span to read through books or take online courses.
  - watwut 6y ago
    I think it is perfectly fine when it works for you. Also advice for programmer is different then one for newbie. One big issue with "just do something" is that people are unable to come up with suitable "something". So they don't even start. Building "something" is motivating for some people, but definitely not for all or majority. Also, people who never coded are pretty much guaranteed to drown in own mess if they attempt to do "something". They will end up with tangled spaghetti they will be unable to make work and they will not know what their issue is.
eswat 6y ago
If your goal is to learn something deeply and not just get something out the door, I don’t believe “just build something” is not the prevailing wisdom. Building something is a part of how you reinforce what you've learned from actual material like books, documentation and others research. You still need to know some of the basic building blocks to get started.
- _fourzerofour 6y ago
  Agreed. There's not much that will bake freshly learned theory into your brain more than realising just how far it could have taken you in hindsight. Over time, this starts to develop into foresight.

They don't justify any of this advice that goes against the prevailing wisdom of "just build something". Beyond some book recommendations this isn't very useful.

watwut 6y ago

Just build something is not prevailing wisdom and most people don't learn that way. It is non answer we give when we have no idea how to answer.

chaos_a 6y ago
I personally prefer learning programming languages by making a project/program with it, it's a far more practical and interesting way of learning new programming language. I realize it's probably not the best way to learn, there's the chance of not learning a simpler or better method. But I personally just don't have the attention span to read through books or take online courses.
- watwut 6y ago
  I think it is perfectly fine when it works for you. Also advice for programmer is different then one for newbie. One big issue with "just do something" is that people are unable to come up with suitable "something". So they don't even start. Building "something" is motivating for some people, but definitely not for all or majority. Also, people who never coded are pretty much guaranteed to drown in own mess if they attempt to do "something". They will end up with tangled spaghetti they will be unable to make work and they will not know what their issue is.

eswat 6y ago

If your goal is to learn something deeply and not just get something out the door, I don’t believe “just build something” is not the prevailing wisdom. Building something is a part of how you reinforce what you've learned from actual material like books, documentation and others research. You still need to know some of the basic building blocks to get started.

_fourzerofour 6y ago
Agreed. There's not much that will bake freshly learned theory into your brain more than realising just how far it could have taken you in hindsight. Over time, this starts to develop into foresight.