What is confusing about platforms?

Speaking from the perspective of someone new to the bells and whistles of the modern web, platforms took some getting used to. I think the main issue that I and many others faced while moving over to platforms was the "all JS" methodology. From my previous experiences working with web programming, it was common to have three separate documents all linked to each other with HTML, CSS, and JS, however, that methodology as stated above is primitive in comparison. Furthermore, I believe understanding how the "all JS" methodology functions and works together also take time to understand. Not to mention, some platforms use different syntaxes that differentiate from one another.

How could web components and VanillaJS standards be taught in a way that is more approachable?

The first thing that I would consider in making web components and VanillaJS more approachable is breaking it down into sections and having simplicity. Looking at concepts that are familiar with basic web concepts but different can be beneficial. From my own experience, I work well with seeing examples of how something is done, so having simple examples that build upon each other would also be of aid.

What did you find easiest to work with on 1st stab? (You don't have to say web components, this is an honest take, if it was Vue cool, but justify it)

Being able to get functional applications on the first try wasn't difficult at all, however, it wasn’t delivered the way a typical application would be on the web. My applications were being delivered through 'index.html' instead of being delivered via 'insert-app-name.js'.

Think back on the tooling. What parts were confusing? What clicked with you immediately?

Using the CLI was pretty native to me and understanding how to install software using the CLI. The confusing part at first was understanding how everything worked together to create an application (vs code, GitHub, lit, etc.).

What additional readings did you have to do in order to make sense of things.

Youtube is a good resource to get a visual on how things take place in-action instead of just reading an article. I preferred using Youtube as I learn more easily by watching than doing.