How a JavaScript Playlist Led Me to Build My Own Youtube Playlist Length

The Accidental Project: How a JavaScript Playlist Led Me to Build My Own Tool

Let me tell you a small story about how one simple plan to learn something new became a big passion project for me. By profession, I am a software engineer, and my world is mostly Python only. It is my comfort zone, my bread and butter. I can happily spend my days making backend APIs, writing complex script, and designing databases, mostly with my old friend, Django.

As many people in this field know, Django is not just a backend framework; it is a very big thing. It is a full-stack solution that lets you build a whole website from starting to end. The server is handling all the logic, making the pages, and serving them directly to the browser. I could build a website with heavy, complex backend logic very easily. But when it came to the frontend—the part that users are actually seeing and interacting with—that is where my confidence was shaking.

I was able to manage. I could put together a basic user interface with a library like Bootstrap, making things look okay-okay. But JavaScript? Honestly speaking, just the thought of it was making me nervous. It felt like a wild, confusing place compared to the proper, structured world of Python I was so used to.

A Sunday Morning and a New Beginning

So, I decided it is time to face my fears. I will learn JavaScript, and I will learn it properly, end-to-end. I started asking my friends and checking on online forums, and one name was coming up again and again: Akshay Saini and his "Namaste Javascript" playlist on YouTube. People were praising his teaching style so much, and all the reviews were very good. I thought, "Okay, let me try this only."

One nice Sunday morning, with a hot cup of chai in my hand, I sat on my chair, opened YouTube, and typed those magic words. There it was: Namaste Javascript, Season 1. I clicked the first video, then the second. I was completely hooked.

To be honest, I have never seen a teacher like him before. He was not just telling concepts; he was telling a story. He was breaking down the most complex topics into simple, easy pieces, and for the first time, the confusing world of JavaScript was starting to make sense. The feeling was just electric. I was so much involved that I felt a strong urge to binge-watch the whole playlist in one go. I was fully ready, ready to master this new skill.

The Small Hiccup That Changed Everything

Fueled by this new new enthusiasm, a practical thought came in my mind: "I am wondering how long the entire playlist is?" I wanted to plan my day, to know exactly how much time this big learning session would take. I checked the YouTube page, thinking I will find a total duration listed somewhere. But there was nothing. A bit strange, I thought, but no big problem.

My curiosity was now more, so I turned to my trusty friend, Google. I typed "YouTube Playlist length," and a few websites came up, all promising to solve my problem. I clicked on the first one, pasted the playlist URL, and it did give me a total duration. It also nicely calculated how long it would take to watch at 1.5x or 2x speed.

But as I looked at the simple output, I realized one thing. This was not actually what I was needing. Knowing the total length is useful at the start, okay. But what about tomorrow, after I have watched ten more videos? How will I calculate the length of the remaining playlist then? I would have to manually minus the videos I had watched, which felt very tedious. Also, none of the tools gave any way to sort the playlist. What if I wanted to watch the shortest videos first for a quick win, or see the longest, most-viewed ones when I had more time? There was no way to do that.

When the Developer's Itch Takes Over

It was at that moment only, something inside me changed. The student who was wanting to learn JavaScript was suddenly pushed aside by the developer who saw a problem to be solved. The urge to continue watching the playlist just went away, replaced by a big itch to build something better.

The developer in me was simply refusing to let it go. I grabbed one notebook and a pen, and the ideas started coming. What features I would want if I was a user of such a tool? I began to sketch out a dream version of a playlist analyzer.

I wrote down everything that came to my mind:

  • Total Playlist Length: The basic, very essential feature.
  • Playback Speed Calculations: Show how long it will take at 1.25x, 1.5x, and 2x speeds.
  • Remaining Playlist Duration: The ability to select videos you have already watched and see the duration of what is left.
  • Advanced Sorting: This was the big one. I wanted to sort the playlist by different criteria—Longest, Shortest, Most Liked, Most Viewed, Oldest, and Newest. This would give learners the power to plan their study sessions.
  • Video Stats at a Glance: A clean table showing details for each video.
  • Direct Links: The ability to open any video directly from the website without going back to YouTube.

Once the list was on the paper, there was no turning back. The blueprint was there, and the excitement was very high. The "Namaste Javascript" playlist was put on hold. My Sunday was having a new mission.

I fired up my code editor and turned to my old friend, Django. It was the natural choice only. I was comfortable with it, and I knew I could build the backend logic fast and properly. The project just consumed me. What started as a small annoyance had become a full-fledged creative project.

And so, my journey to learn JavaScript took one unexpected turn. I spent my time building this YouTube playlist analysis tool, putting all my energy into making it as useful as I had imagined.

Don't worry, the story is having a happy ending. After completing the website and making it live, I did return to my original goal. With my new tool by my side, I went back to Akshay Saini's playlist and finally finished it, a little more smarter in both JavaScript and in the surprising, wonderful ways that inspiration can come.

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