Dropped $180 on a coding bootcamp prep course that taught me less than a free YouTube playlist
So about 6 months ago I got it in my head I wanted to learn Python and I signed up for this online prep course. It was $180 for "intro to programming fundamentals" and it promised to get me ready for a real bootcamp. Turns out it was 12 hours of some guy reading slides about what a variable is. The whole thing could have been a 20 minute video. I finished it in a weekend and felt dumber than when I started, honestly. Then I found a free 4 hour video by some dude in his basement and learned loops, functions, and how to actually build a tiny calculator in like 3 days. I am not even kidding, the free stuff was way better. So yeah, if you are brand new like I was, do not pay for the basics. Save your money for when you actually need help debugging your own mess. What free resources actually worked for you when you were starting out?
Paid for the same kind of thing once, a guitar course that promised to teach me chords. Same deal. Guy talking at a camera for hours when a 10 minute video would've done it. Feels like a lot of these paid intro courses are just free info with a price tag slapped on.