{
  "id": 9321827,
  "title": "What I Learned From Building Small Projects Instead of Just Watching Tutorials",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/23/what-i-learned-from-building-small-projects-instead-of-just-watching",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-09-23T11:07:29.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Dev.to",
    "slug": "dev-to",
    "url": "https://dev.to/lanekulas78/what-i-learned-from-building-small-projects-instead-of-just-watching-tutorials-d35"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "The author of the Dev.to article shares their experience of transitioning from watching development tutorials to building small projects independently. They found that small projects helped expose gaps in their knowledge, as tutorials typically provide the solution upfront. By dealing with unexpected problems and structuring their projects, the author discovered exactly what they needed to learn next. The author also emphasizes the importance of getting stuck and learning how to troubleshoot errors independently, rather than immediately seeking a tutorial. They highlight that documentation is a crucial skill to practice, as it teaches developers how to find reliable information beyond tutorial examples. Ultimately, the author suggests viewing learning development as a cycle of building, getting stuck, investigating, fixing, and improving, rather than relying on pre-defined solutions.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}