Tutorial Purgatory or Tutorial Hell is when you're proud of yourself because you've built all these different applications by following all these different tutorials, but if you try to build anything else, no matter how simple it is, you don't know how. All you know is to follow a tutorial because it's a step-by-step guide and you haven't learned anything from these tutorials.
Welcome To Tutorial Hell
This is an invite every newbie programmer gets when they start learning programming. And 9 out of 10 accept the invite. This is because tutorials are safe. You have someone guiding you and telling you exactly what to do. You feel like you're being productive and learn a lot.
But in reality, you learn less than you think. Try to build that project again without that tutorial and see if you can complete it without watching the video.
Taking A Leap Of Faith
Don't do tutorials. This will prevent tutorial hell. Instead, pick a small project and build it.
Let's say you want to build a Tic Tac Toe in the terminal window.
Don't search "How to build tic tac toe in the terminal window", instead search "How to display characters in the terminal window, python" Then you take the answers that you found and use them to display what you want instead of what the answers we're displaying. Now display your board. This way you know why it's displaying the board because you made the code yourself.
Next, display X and O on the board. Then google something else you need for your project. This way you understand each component of your project because you made the code yourself.
With this, you use critical thinking and problem solving to alter the code to work for you
What if you're already in Tutorial Hell?
Maybe you're like me and you like tutorials. The best way to get more from that tutorial is to include new features of your own. Use what you learned to change the project a little bit.
For example, if you've built a command-line tic tac toe, instead of a 3x3 grid, you can make it 4x4 and make it work. This way you put your own knowledge onto the project.
It's Not Always Rainbows and Milkshakes
All that I said up there might not be that easy. When I started out I was really bad at CSS, I still am. I was taking a JavaScript course where the instructor used frameworks to build the UI. But I decided to use CSS so as to improve my skills. I FAILED!! So I decided to build the UI with the framework after all. I watched a few CSS build-along tutorials and now I suck less at CSS.
Why I Shared This?
It's okay to take a few tutorials, but don't overdo it.
It's just like Goldilocks' rule
The concept of just the right amount
Not too little, not too much
Conlusion
In the beginning, it's alright to take a few tutorials to teach you the basics, but after that (Knowing the basics) it's all up to you to make projects and not rely on tutorials