Some baseline level of knowledge is always needed. It may or may not be the case that you have enough knowledge needed, as a beginner, for any given project.

For a simple website, it may be possible to just poke around in a tutorial and glean everything you need. For a complex web service or server process, maybe not.

Why advocate for this "learn no more than is necessary" position? People learn in different ways; none of them are right. And you wouldn't say that about calculus, would you?

The enthusiasm for minimizing formal, up-front learning coming out of the Peter Thiel school of thought strikes me as very short-sighted and suitable only for relatively simple projects. It is a reflection of SVs obsession with short-term profits.

First off, I appreciate your response. Your points are very valid.

I don't think one should ever stop learning. I do believe however that one should take on projects as soon as they can. Adding that hands on experience is what puts the learning in context.

My point in this article is to get people to take their heads out of the courses, and actually take on projects. Yes, at first you may only do simple projects. However, as you keep learning and keep taking on more projects, the complexity will gradually increase.

This cuts both ways.

> Looking back, I can’t believe I jumped in knowing so little.

I also have this feeling about my first few client projects, and it was to my detriment. The fact that I was technically able to deliver something to spec convinced me that I knew what I was doing. There have been times when I've wished someone had told me back then: stop just making things, and learn how to code.

That's an interesting perspective. I appreciate your response, however, that was not the case for me. Even the mistakes served as learning experiences.

When I learned code,I was told to do things in a certain way, sometimes not fully understanding why. By putting it into the real world context of actual projects, it solidified those concepts.