Combining my expertise as an educator and my own personal interest in self-taught computer science led me to a telling realization;  most educational material for the self-taught programmer is NOT EDUCATIONAL AT ALL.  Instead, it falls into one of two categories:

• Writing small "snippets" of programs that taken out of context, seem to serve no purpose at all and frankly, are beneath the user.  Prime examples include using a for loop to print out all even numbers from 1 to 100 or using if statements to respond to generic user input.  Here, users are bored and aren't challenge to create anything with meaning.  There is little purpose other than gaining what is essentially factual level knowledge.  It is a waste of your time.    

• Watching others code whole "applications" without a true understanding of what is going on.  These are programs whose scope is beyond the user in which there is no clear guide to walk the user through the thought process without just giving them the answers.  Here, without proper support and guidance, the user just defaults to letting someone else unfold the solution for them.  There is little engagement in watching someone else work and rarely a thought generated on one's own.  It is a waste of time.  

Yes, I will admit that some learning does take place in doing simple tasks or watching others complete complicated tasks.  In fact, much of how I learned was done this way.  However, I'm telling you it pales in comparison to the learning that takes place by DOING meaningful and appropriately challenging work.  This is the art of doing.