The best way to learn how to code is not by watching videos or tutorials, but it’s by actually coding something. I, and a lot of other people, call this project-based learning.

It’s like learning how to cook—you don’t get better by reading recipes or watching cooking tutorials, but by actually cooking and then tasting the food that you’re cooking. Likewise, with coding, you only get better at coding by actually building something, writing some code, and then doing some testing to see how your code performs.

When I was learning how to code in university, of course, we had our lectures, and we had to learn some theory. Then, we had some mini coding assignments to make sure we understood the theory. But we actually didn’t really grow in programming until they gave us the projects.

In each of those projects, I was stretched out of my comfort zone. I had to really think about the theory and internalize it, and that’s when I was able to make progress on my projects. Those projects were crucial because they gave me confidence in my coding skills, helped me with debugging, and taught me things you don’t learn from lectures—you only learn them by actually coding those projects.

Furthermore, the skills I learned from those coding projects, I still carry with me today. It’s a cumulative effect. As I’ve grown in my software development career, I’ve done many projects, and with each one, I’ve learned something new and carried those lessons with me. That’s what I apply as I approach new coding projects and tasks.

So, those coding projects are really important. In this video, I’m going to go over, step by step, how to build your first programming project. Of course, you’re not going to learn just by watching this video or tutorial—you’re going to learn by actually doing it on your own. But I want to provide this video as if I’m sitting next to you.

Even though I told you that you don’t learn how to code from watching videos and tutorials, I would say I did learn a lot by sitting with more senior-level programmers, having them guide me along, helping me process and think through my code. As I worked with them, that’s how I got better too.

So, you can think of me as your mentor for this video! 🤝

Thank you for watching, and happy coding! 💻
-Henrik