Beyond Copy-Paste: Mastering the Art of Learning from Coding Tutorials

Intro

Have you ever watched coding tutorials and wondered how to make the code more memorable? There is a powerful technique to level up your code retention.

How To Make the Code Stick

First, you need to type the code manually, without copying and pasting. This is without question non-negotiable. It is also recommended to read the code, understand the underlying logic, and experiment with different modifications. You may not want to experiment with the code all the time, or at least most of it.

Let's imagine: you opened a video tutorial on one half of the screen and a code editor on the other. And you manually type the code in. This is likely your current learning setup. What is the problem with this? The problem is that you may not think about the code you are typing in long enough. You do not really need to remember it, because it is always in your vision. The result is that you do not have the code in your memory long enough for it to stick.

What I started doing is opening a coding tutorial on one workspace and a code editor on another. What does it do? Let's imagine: you are watching a coding tutorial. You have the setup of a coding tutorial and a code editor, as I mentioned earlier, on different workspaces. To type the code in, I have to look at it on one workspace, but I cannot type it right away. I need to switch workspaces, and only then can I type the code in. Which essentially means that I have to keep the code in my head to type it in my code editor. What does it do to me? It forces me to remember the code better. Because I have to reproduce it myself without a coding tutorial directly. I have to hold it in my working memory longer than if I had both the video and the code editor on the same workspace.

When To Do a Switch From a Tutorial To a Code Editor

Maybe now you agree to the idea of different workspaces for a code editor and a video. But a question is: when should you switch workspaces to type the code in? Is it maybe when a new line of code appears, or two or three? I found that a good way to find out that it is time to type is when the code in the video gets out of the view. Then you can rewind a bit and start switching and typing, back and forth, until you are done. This way, you do not need to constantly decide when to switch. The video itself will tell you. Just watch. For a long time, I didn't know about this way of deciding when to type. It just clicked suddenly.

Conclusion

Here you go! This is how you can improve the "stickiness" of code by learning from video tutorials. If you like it, please share this article with someone who can find it helpful as well.

Got questions? Send an email to commitnobug@outlook.com.