i really hate those 'build an app in 10/30/60 minutes (with/without AI)!' tutorials. they make software engineering seem effortless and superficial, which is so far from the reality. these kinds of videos trap beginners in 'tutorial hell,' where they’re building apps they don’t care about, learning almost nothing in the process, and it also kills creativity if you're trapped in it.
real progress happens when you dive into the documentation, think deeply about design (both visual and engineering, these tutorials will provide boring UI design templates and assets), and learn through trial and error. you need to refine the app over and over again. the 'quick-fix' mindset these tutorials push often skips over critical aspects like security and architecture. without proper security considerations, you're not just risking bad design—you could end up with massive cloud service bills due to poor planning.
this mentality is also why traditional engineers don't take software engineers seriously. software engineering is a discipline that deserves seriousness and respect, not clickbait that trivializes the entire field. with the emergence of LLM chatbots, it’s becoming worse, as beginners/tutors will be relying on them too much. it becomes a endless loop where shitty tutors using LLM to teach beginners shitty codes, which eventually feeds back to LLM.
we need to stop promoting these shortcuts
#softwareengineering #softwaredevelopment #tutorialhell