But, doing is where the real learning takes place, you can create an altcoin based on bitcoin 0.9v its easy you have to change only 2-3 lines of code, and start perfome changes to code then test test test!!
that would only create a parrot who can edit text files after reading some guide on the internet not someone who understands how bitcoin works.
you have to understand what you change, what those changes affect and why you are changing them.