Many students, when learning about data science and machine learning, believe that the way to learn to code is to “code-along”.
This has been implicitly assumed to be the default method of learning how to code, and I must admit, even I fell for this at first!
Upon further reflection, I’ve come to realize that, unless you are doing something extremely basic, coding along is a very bad approach.
You mistakenly equate “coding time” with “thinking time”.
But if you’re learning any algorithm worth coding, it’s likely that “thinking time” >> “coding time”.
The >> means “much greater than”.
Trying to code way faster than you can think is simply a waste of time. Instead, train your mind and spend more time thinking than coding.
Just as how someone who talks too much likely isn’t thinking enough, so too is someone who types too much without planning and designing what they are going to type.
Please watch this video for an in-depth discussion: