Going from Intermediate to Advanced Coding Skills: Changing the way I'm learning to code
Tags: learning, discuss, beginners, career
Published: 2019-03-13 03:56:00

---
title: Going from Intermediate to Advanced Coding Skills: Changing the way I'm learning to code
published: true
description: I've changed the way I am approaching learning to code to help me get to the next skill level
cover_image: https://thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i/e47i5ge3rl7j4pism0l9.jpg
tags: learning,discuss,beginners,careers
---

>Cover image from [John Salzarulo](https://unsplash.com/photos/Hl1stIQkVRw) on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/)


I've been teaching myself to write code for awhile now and like many I often wonder if I am doing it right. Reading blog posts and doing tutorials seems to be the most common approach people take and that is what I have done for the most part. I have used different services, some paid some free, to go through structured content to learn as much as I can. This has definitely helped me learn a lot and I feel it is a great way to get started for many.
But, this approach can only take me so far though. There is a lot of content online for learning to code, but it seems to be geared towards one of two audiences. It is either content for a beginner looking to learn, it has step by step instructions and asides explaining things in more detail to connect different ideas, or it is written for a more advanced reader, someone who doesn't need as much explanation to get the point across. There is this missing piece of the intermediate level. Arguably, this is a really hard ask for someone to create intermediate content. Writing code has so much involved with it that it is really hard to draw the line of what to leave out and what to explain more deeply when creating learning content.
At this point, I think it is on me to find new ways to challenge myself to learn new things. Not only for the sake of increasing my skills, but to also learn to do it faster than I have before. New things are always coming out and it would be good to be able to dive into something and start hacking away with it to learn how it works.
My approach has long been to go through tutorials and follow along with every step building out the example project. This is a good approach as a beginner, but I don't want to rely on someone walking me through step by step in things holding my hand throughout the whole process anymore. Continuing this will just keep me at the beginner level always needing someone to get me started rather than helping me to learn how to think through problems on my own. So, I'm changing up my approach somewhat in how I use these tutorials.
I am still watching some video tutorials, I purchased a few on Udemy for things I am interested in learning, but instead of following along I am simply watching the videos. I am using my commute time on my bus ride to work to watch them. Then, instead of building the example project I am trying to apply this new knowledge in my current projects. This way I am still using what I am learning, but I'm getting my hands dirty by working in something that I'm not being guided through step by step. I am trying to make something function and have to work through the issues I run into. This feels like it will save me time, as I am not trying to find as much time as previously to do tutorials and work on my projects, plus the challenge of making things work is more of a real world scenario for writing code professionally.
Putting this challenge to myself will hopefully help get me to the next level in my skills. What do you think? What are things you are doing to challenge yourself more in learning to write code?