Day 16 and Day 17 are markedly different from earlier lessons.

It begins bringing in LOTS of new information. There doesn't seem to be any general principles to draw from (unlike with learning Swift basics). I have no idea how I'm supposed to happen to know certain properties or qualities of ViewController, Assistant Editors, etc.

So how do I learn with the material? Do I just code along? Will Paul let the training wheels come off eventually and let me code on my own? I just feel like I'm being thrown lots of random trivia and feel extremely overwhelmed. How can a simple app displaying pictures seem to involve a dizzying amount of moving parts? Both intimidating and frustrating.

So how do I learn with the material? Do I just code along? Will Paul let the training wheels come off eventually and let me code on my own?

Yeah, pretty much. Code along with Paul as he introduces new topics and concepts. At the end of each project, he will challenge you to use that info to go beyond what he showed you. That's where the training wheels will start to loosen. Each project will add more and more to your kit of knowledge.

One thing is important to remember from the start, NO developer can remember every property or modifier etc what usually happens is you learn a few "core" modifiers and property’s etc and expand from there (Xcode's code completion helps a lot), Paul has tons of other videos that describe many common cases and if its not covered there then ask us or even use StackOverflow like many others do.

When you first start coding it can be very intimidating and frustrations kick in a lot too because you find yourself having to refer back to something you've just read but that’s all ok and part of the process.

Paul's way of teaching is by example, I find this very helpful, but some like to just be talked through the language and if in the future this is something you like yourself Paul has plenty of books that do just that, talk you through Swift and all its concepts etc.

For now, though the best advice I can give is this, follow the tutorials and then at the end challenge yourself to modify that project in some way, this will give you the basics and make it interesting too.

Keep up the good work!