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👋 Hi Devs,

Recently, while working on my Scrimba certificates,

I got some feedback: “You need to build more projects.”

At first, I didn’t really get what they meant. But later, it hit me—whenever I try to code on my own, I get stuck. I don’t know what to do or where to start.

Basically, I was trapped in what many call “Tutorial Hell.”

I wondered: Should I just practice more?

The answer turned out to be simpler than I thought: “Build more projects.”

Today, I want to share how building projects every day helped me break free from Tutorial Hell and start mastering the art of software engineering—even as a beginner.

WHY IT MATTERS:

• Transforms Learning into Doing: Coding tutorials teach concepts, but building projects forces you to apply them, solidifying your skills faster.

• Develops Problem-Solving Skills: Daily projects expose you to real-world challenges, teaching you how to debug, think critically, and find solutions independently.

• Builds a Portfolio That Gets Noticed: Every project you complete adds to a tangible body of work that shows employers you can deliver, not just learn.

Let’s Begin…

We humans learn by doing

We don’t truly learn by watching someone else do it. You can’t learn to swim just by watching someone else in the pool—and the same applies to coding.

Following tutorials can teach you what to do, but it doesn’t teach you how to think like an engineer. When you rely on tutorials, you’re essentially borrowing someone else’s thinking instead of developing your own.

And here’s why I’m saying this: because of my Digital Clock project (GitHub link here)

At the start, I didn’t know the first thing about building it. I had two options:

1. Follow a tutorial or use AI and not really exercise my brain.

2. Build the project myself, using Google and documentation—just like real software engineers do.

I didn’t want to stay in Tutorial Hell, so I chose the second option.

And that brings me to my second point…

Break problems into smaller steps

When I started the Digital Clock project, I knew it looked complicated, so I began by writing pseudo code:

// Pseudo Code

// Clock needs to get exact time for the person location
// button that changes to the 12 hour format and 24 hour format
// date sets according to the person location

Breaking it down, I realized the project had three main components:

1. Clock sets according to the person’s location

2. Button toggles 12/24-hour format

3. Date sets according to the person’s location

I had read that breaking problems into smaller steps makes them easier, and writing pseudo code helps you know where to start first.

Starting out is always the hardest part—the rest follows naturally.

So I started by building the clock function

function clock() {
  // variables
  let now = new Date();
  let hours = now.getHours();
  let minutes = now.getMinutes();
  let seconds = now.getSeconds();
  // format with 2 digits

  if (twelveHour) {
    hours = hours % 12 === 0 ? 12 : hours % 12;
    let period = hours >= 12 ? "AM" : "PM";
    timeEl.textContent = `${hours.toString().padStart(2, '0')}:${minutes.toString().padStart(2, '0')}:${seconds.toString().padStart(2, '0')} ${period}`
  } else {
    timeEl.textContent = `${hours.toString().padStart(2, '0')}:${minutes.toString().padStart(2, '0')}:${seconds.toString().padStart(2, '0')}`
  }
};

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Software Engineers are good in googling and finding solutions

When I started, I didn’t know anything about the code—not the syntax, not the logic. But I knew one thing: software engineers know how to search and learn.

So I googled “how to get current time in JavaScript” and found a helpful W3Schools article. That became my first step. Then I learned how to get minutes, then seconds, and so on.

Whenever I hit a bug, I searched Stack Overflow for solutions.

35 minutes later, I had a fully working clock function.

Lesson: Start small, break problems into steps, and don’t be afraid to Google—solving problems is just a skill you can learn.

By the end of the day, I had completed my project—and I felt so proud. Why? Because I had used my own thinking process, instead of borrowing someone else’s by just following tutorials.

I hope you liked today’s article and before we go below are quick RELEASES bites

RELEASES:

• What’s new in Svelte: October 2025: Improved Remote Functions, sv create from playgrounds and experimental async SSR

• Node.js v24.9.0 (Current): New changes