Like other answers have said, it depends on their learning style. Learn by Doing, or Learn by Studying?
You're right that you need the fundamentals first. I tried to build apps using ChatGPT, and sure - they work - but when you don't know the difference between frontend and backend, how a database is used, where CSS / JS / HTML / React / Laravel / and ten thousand other buzzwords apply, then it's very easy to get lost.
I'm 50 hours (!) in to the Web Developers Bootcamp by Colt Steele on Udemy. It's very good, but 74 hours long. It covers everything from absolute beginner to building a complete app with posts, comments, logins, databases, react, etc.
I'm also taking a break and watching laracasts to get some knowledge on the PHP side of things as opposed to the Colt Steele course which is mainly javascript.
I have several apps in mind - I'm writing a guide on UK tender responses, and will build a larger app around that subject once the guide is done, with a bunch of smaller apps to directly support the guide (freebies to drive interest, essentially). We'll see how it goes; I'm not expecting magic, but it's a good exercise to learn code with a specific goal in mind.
Like other answers have said, it depends on their learning style. Learn by Doing, or Learn by Studying?
You're right that you need the fundamentals first. I tried to build apps using ChatGPT, and sure - they work - but when you don't know the difference between frontend and backend, how a database is used, where CSS / JS / HTML / React / Laravel / and ten thousand other buzzwords apply, then it's very easy to get lost.
I'm 50 hours (!) in to the Web Developers Bootcamp by Colt Steele on Udemy. It's very good, but 74 hours long. It covers everything from absolute beginner to building a complete app with posts, comments, logins, databases, react, etc.
I'm also taking a break and watching laracasts to get some knowledge on the PHP side of things as opposed to the Colt Steele course which is mainly javascript.
Sounds like it's going pretty well for you. What do you plan to build afterward?
I have several apps in mind - I'm writing a guide on UK tender responses, and will build a larger app around that subject once the guide is done, with a bunch of smaller apps to directly support the guide (freebies to drive interest, essentially). We'll see how it goes; I'm not expecting magic, but it's a good exercise to learn code with a specific goal in mind.
When you're done with the Udemy course, it could be fun to have a chat about it. If you ever want a code review or something - let me know. : )