Resources & Community
You're not alone — here's where to find help, communities, and information about costs.
INFO
- Type: Reference
- Usage: Find help and communities when you need them
Where to Get Help
Stack Overflow
Stack Overflow is the largest Q&A site for programming questions. Before asking, always search first — your question has probably been asked before.
How to search effectively:
- Use specific error messages (in quotes for exact matches)
- Include the technology name:
"TypeError undefined" javascript react - Filter by tags:
[javascript] [react] useEffect cleanup - Search Google with
site:stackoverflow.com your question
When to ask a new question:
- You've searched and found nothing relevant
- Existing answers don't solve your specific case
- Include: what you tried, error messages, minimal code example
GitHub Discussions
Many open-source projects have a Discussions tab for community Q&A. This is the best place for project-specific help.
Finding the right place:
- Go to the project's GitHub page
- Click the "Discussions" tab (if available)
- Search existing discussions before posting
- If no Discussions tab, check for a Discord or community link in the README
Discord Communities
Discord links change frequently. The safest way to find them is to check:
- The official product website footer or docs
- The project's GitHub README or Discussions page
Reddit
- r/learnprogramming - General learning
- r/webdev - Web development
- r/ChatGPT, r/ClaudeAI - AI tools
How to Ask Good Questions
Getting help is a skill. Good questions get better answers, faster.
Include These Five Things
- What are you trying to do? (Goal, not just task)
- What have you tried? (Show your work)
- What error/result do you get? (Exact text)
- Share relevant code (Formatted, minimal)
- Share error messages (Full text, not screenshots)
Example of a Good Question
Bad question:
"My code doesn't work, please help"
Good question:
Title: React useEffect runs twice on mount in development mode
Body: I'm building a React 18 app and noticed my useEffect runs twice when the component mounts. Here's my code:
jsxuseEffect(() => { console.log("Effect ran"); fetchData(); }, []);What I tried: I confirmed it only happens in development mode. I read about React.StrictMode but I'm not sure if that's the cause.
What I expected: The effect to run once on mount.
Environment: React 18.2.0, Vite 4.0, Chrome 120
The good question includes context, code, what was tried, and environment details. Someone can actually help with this.
Costs & Free Tiers
Most services have generous free tiers. You can learn everything in this course without paying.
What Is Actually Free
| Service | Free Tier | Paid Tier Starts At | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| VS Code | Completely free | N/A | Always free, no limits |
| GitHub | Unlimited repos | $4/month (Pro) | Free tier is enough for most people |
| Netlify | 300 credits/month | $9/month | Static sites rarely hit limits |
| Vercel | Generous bandwidth | $20/month | Great for Next.js projects |
| Cloudflare Pages | Unlimited requests | $20/month | Extremely generous free tier |
| GitHub Pages | Free for public repos | N/A | Static files only |
What Costs Money (Eventually)
| Service | Free Tier | Typical Monthly Cost | Watch Out For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Custom Domain | None | $12-20/year (.com) | Annual renewal required |
| Lovable | Limited free projects | ~$20/month | Check current free limits |
| Cursor | Limited AI calls | $20/month | Free tier may be restrictive |
| GitHub Copilot | Students only | $10/month | Free for verified students |
| Claude Pro | N/A | $20/month | Unlimited chat, priority access |
| ChatGPT Plus | N/A | $20/month | GPT-4 access, faster responses |
API Costs (Pay-Per-Use)
These charge based on usage, not monthly subscriptions:
| Service | Cost Model | Typical Use | Set Limits! |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude API | ~$3-15 per million tokens | Heavy coding session: $1-5 | Always set spending caps |
| OpenAI API | ~$0.50-60 per million tokens | Heavy coding session: $1-10 | Always set spending caps |
| Supabase | 500MB free, then ~$25/month | Small projects fit in free tier | Database can grow unexpectedly |
Realistic Monthly Budget
Learning phase (first 1-3 months): $0-20/month
- Use free tiers for everything
- Optional: Claude Pro or ChatGPT Plus ($20) for better AI access
Building phase (active projects): $20-50/month
- Domain name: ~$1.50/month (paid annually)
- One AI subscription: $20/month
- Possibly Cursor or Lovable: $20/month
- Hosting: Usually free
The truly free path: VS Code + free GitHub + free Netlify + ChatGPT free tier = $0. You can complete this entire course and ship real projects without spending anything.
Staying Safe with API Costs
API costs can surprise you. Follow these rules:
Before Using Any Paid API
- Set billing alerts - Get notified before hitting limits
- Set hard spending limits - Cap maximum spend
- Start with free tiers - Don't upgrade until you need to
- Use cheap models for testing - Save expensive models for production
Common Cost Explosion Scenarios
| Scenario | What Happens | Prevention |
|---|---|---|
| Infinite loop calling API | Bill grows every second | Add max iteration limits |
| No rate limiting | Thousands of calls in minutes | Add delays between calls |
| Large file processing | Many tokens = big bill | Check file sizes first |
| Script running overnight | Forgot to stop it | Set timeouts, monitor usage |
| Retry on every error | Errors multiply costs | Exponential backoff, max retries |
What to Do
- Monitor usage dashboards daily when starting
- Use environment variables to switch between cheap/expensive models
- Add error handling that STOPS on failure (don't retry forever)
- Test with small datasets first
Tool Alternatives
If your primary tool changes, becomes unavailable, or you just want to try something different, here are solid alternatives:
| If Using... | Alternatives |
|---|---|
| Lovable | Bolt.new, v0 (Vercel), Replit |
| Netlify | Vercel, GitHub Pages, Cloudflare Pages |
| VS Code | Cursor, Windsurf, Zed |
| GitHub | GitLab, Bitbucket |
| ChatGPT | Claude.ai, Gemini |
| Cursor | VS Code + GitHub Copilot, Windsurf |
The skills transfer. The patterns you learn in this course work across similar tools. If you know how to deploy on Netlify, you will figure out Vercel in minutes. If you can use ChatGPT effectively, Claude will feel familiar.
Do not stress about picking the "right" tool. Pick one, learn it well, and switch later if needed.
Troubleshooting: When Things Go Wrong
When Lovable (or Any AI Builder) Is Down
Service outages happen. Here is what to do:
Step 1: Confirm it is not just you
- Check the service's status page (usually at
status.lovable.devor similar) - Search Twitter/X for "[service name] down"
- If others report the same issue, wait it out
Step 2: Do not panic — your code is safe AI builders let you export your code. You always own what you build. A service outage does not delete your work.
Step 3: While waiting, you can:
- Continue working in VS Code if you have the code locally
- Document what you wanted to build next
- Work on non-code tasks (planning, content writing)
Step 4: Consider alternatives If outages are frequent, try Bolt.new or v0. The core workflow is similar.
When Deployment Fails
Netlify says "Build failed":
- Read the error message in the deploy log
- Try running
npm run buildlocally — you will see the same error - Fix the error in your code and push again
- If stuck, copy the error message and ask AI for help
Common causes:
- Missing dependency (add it to
package.json) - Environment variable not set (add it in Netlify dashboard)
- Build command wrong (check
package.jsonscripts)
When Your Site Works Locally But Not in Production
This is a common frustration. Causes include:
Environment variables: You have them locally but forgot to add them to Netlify/Vercel.
Case sensitivity: Your Mac ignores File.js vs file.js. Linux (production) does not.
API keys: Your local .env has a working key, but production does not have access.
Debug steps:
- Check browser console for errors (F12 → Console)
- Compare environment variables (local vs production)
- Check network requests for failed API calls
Mindset & Encouragement
It's Supposed to Be Hard
- Every developer struggles at first
- "I have no idea what I'm doing" is normal for months
- The people who succeed just didn't quit
You're Not Behind
- There's no "correct" timeline
- Comparing yourself to developers with years of experience is unfair
- Focus on progress, not position
The Best Way to Learn
- Build things you actually want
- Break things and fix them
- Teach someone else (even if just explaining to yourself)
When You Feel Stuck
- Take a break (seriously)
- Try a different approach
- Ask for help (it's not cheating)
- Remember: Every expert was once confused too
You Now Have Permission
After completing this course and shipping your flagship project, you are allowed to:
- Call yourself an AI-Enabled Builder
- Point to your live website and say "I built this"
- Build tools for your team or clients
- Charge money for what you build
- Have opinions about AI tools
- Say "I don't know, but I can figure it out"