Master Programming by Watching Videos? Yes—If You Play the Whole Game

May 3 (edited) • Tips & Tools

Let’s be real—watching programming tutorials feels productive. You follow along, type what the instructor types… and by the end, you’ve built something. Sort of.

But days later? You barely remember what you did.

That’s because most of us fall into passive learning—copying code without understanding the bigger picture.

This idea isn’t new. In his book Making Learning Whole, David Perkins compares learning to playing a game. If you want someone to master baseball, don’t start by making them memorize the rulebook. Let them play the whole game—even if it's messy at first.

And that’s exactly how we should treat learning to code.

Here are 7 developer-friendly principles, inspired by Perkins’ work, that can transform how you learn from tutorials—and help you stop watching and start mastering.

🎮 1. Play the Whole Game

Instead of coding isolated pieces (like a login form), start with a full project—even if you don’t understand everything yet. It helps you see how all the parts connect.

Try this: Choose a tutorial that builds a complete app—blog, chat app, task manager—and go all the way through.

❤️ 2. Make the Game Worth Playing

Learning sticks when it matters to you. Don’t build something just because it’s trendy. Pick projects you’d actually use or care about.

Try this: If you’re into music, finance, or gaming, find tutorials in those areas. Your motivation will multiply.

⚔️ 3. Work on the Hard Parts

Struggling with async calls? State management? Don’t gloss over them. Stop the video, break it down, Google it, play with the code.

Try this: Make a mini version of just the tough part. Learning happens at the edge of your comfort zone.

🔥🔥🔥🔥

Note even

@Sonny Sangha

in episode 4 of the React entrepreneur podcast support these timestamp 👇

36:31---

@Sonny Sangha

build dummy app doing the little things he is trying to learn

And episode 8 also where

@Jay Rathod

ask him timestamp 👇

37:22 --- question: which tech skill more people should know how to do.

Answer: Self learn

He said same thing when talk about his approach to learning

✈️ 4. Play Out of Town

Once you’ve built an app in one stack, try rebuilding it in another. This builds adaptability and deepens your understanding.

Try this: Recreate the same app using different tools—Next.js instead of React, or Django instead of Express. Or even changing the database this forces you to think about the whole architecture

🕵️ 5. Uncover the Hidden Game

Look beyond syntax. Ask: why did the dev organize the project this way? What trade-offs did they make?

Try this: Watch advanced sections or bonus content where developers explain their decisions. That’s where the gold is.

🤝 6. Learn from the Team

Learning is a team sport. Share your code. Ask for feedback. Join communities like this papafam where others are building the same thing.

Try this: Post your work on GitHub, join Discord groups, or pair up with a friend to build together.

🧠 7. Learn the Game of Learning

Reflect often. Track what you’ve learned, what you still don’t get, and what to tackle next.

Try this: Keep a dev journal. After every tutorial, write 3 things: what you learned, what confused you, and your next goal.

Mind you even

@Sonny Sangha

have a physical note despite the digital version on is work space sorry I did not put timestamp but next time you get the point

Final Thought: Stop Watching passively — Start Playing

Tutorials can be powerful teachers—but only when you treat them like practice, not performance.

So next time you hit play, don’t just follow along. Think like a developer. Reflect like a learner. Build like it matters.

Because real mastery comes when you play the whole game.

Big shout out to David Perkins and his book Making Learning Whole for inspiring this mindset shift. Let’s stop watching passively. Let’s start playing.

No wonder I end with these during one of the live build with

@Sonny Sangha

one among us ask how do you become so good guess is answer

👇

Build it and teach other

If you still doubt here is the timestamp and the particular build

👇

Let build Disney 2.0 with a Nextjs 14 (Microsoft Azure, catching)

1:55:57 --

@Sonny Sangha

said my advice would be build it yourself then teach some one some value

That summarize these writer up 😛😛😛😛