Hi everyone, as the title suggests I’d like you all to roast my idea in order for me to get a better understanding of the problem as well as the solution.
I recently finished my second year at university and realised a lot of jobs/internships require a portfolio or personal projects - I know realised a bit too late ):. All my experience with projects was through tutorials, so I felt a bit lost on where to start with actual projects as I was stuck in “tutorial hell”. After talking to some friends, I found out many people feel the same way.
This got me thinking: what if there was a platform for project-based learning in coding? Like LeetCode, but for real-world projects across various tech domains (web dev, app dev, AI, cloud, etc.). You could pick a project, follow a structured set of instructions with checklists (no solutions like YouTube tutorials, will require you to problem solve read and research but obvs get hints and help), get feedback and review, add it to your portfolio all in one place. Content would be community-driven, with devs contributing projects for a fee. What do you think? Would this be helpful?
You might ask how is this different to freeCodeCamp or Codecademy? The platform will not only provide a specific curriculum to follow, it will give the user the freedom to choose any project using any tech stack, complete in a fun and interactive way, get feedback on their work, and add it to their portfolio. As I mentioned, think of it as LeetCode but for projects, but obvs a bit different to LeetCode (:
TL;DR: Thinking of a project-based learning platform for coding, like LeetCode but for building real-world projects. Would you use it?
Would love to hear your thoughts!
First, education and training products often struggle to gain traction because they go against human nature, much like gyms. Unless the benefits are immediately measurable and closely tied to advancement in education (e.g., homework answers) or employment (e.g., LeetCode), it's challenging to achieve widespread popularity. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/business/2024/07/26/long...
Second, how many jobs actually require project-based skills? Are these projects essential, or just nice to have? If employers know that projects are completed by following a tutorial step by step, without much problem-solving or creativity, will these projects still hold value?
Lastly, if the content is community-driven, what's the incentive for contributors to create tutorials, especially when the platform is small? This is a classic chicken-and-egg problem, and it's not an easy one to solve. Creating a tutorial is far more involved than making a photo or video, so how will you ensure the quality of the content to attract and retain users?