Feeling stuck between beginner and “what’s next?”. Need advice from those who’ve been here
Posted by Thesweet0ne@reddit | learnprogramming | View on Reddit | 12 comments
I’m currently on summer break before starting my second year as a computer science student (uni is no help, unfortunately..). I’ve finished my university’s OOP course using C++, and while I understand the basic concepts, I wouldn't say I’m great at it. I know the fundamentals of programming, and I’ve dabbled a little with Python, but that’s about it. The problem is... I’m stuck. I want to make real progress this summer, but I don’t know what direction to take. People keep saying “learn data structures and algorithms” or “start a project,” but that just makes me more overwhelmed. I don’t even know what kind of project I could build, or how to even begin.
What helped you the most when you were at this stage? Was it projects? Online courses? Something else? How did you bridge the gap from knowing syntax to actually building things or solving real problems? What should my next step be?.. Any advice or clarity would mean a lot. Thanks in advance.
peterlinddk@reddit
Projects! Projects! Projects!
I grew up waaay back when games were still kind of simple, so my projects were to re-create games that I liked. Most of my own games sucked, and weren't really that fun to play, if playable at all, but it was more about the programming for me, and I learned a lot.
I also didn't know what kind of project I could build - I just decided on what I wanted to see on the screen, and then tried to program that. Always as simple as possible, or re-creating a specific visual effect, and forgetting about the rest ...
My personal suggestion after having learned some C++ OOP, would be a game - not a modern 3D fully immersive experience, but something simple, a 2D shooter, a 2D platform-game or maybe even a text-based adventure.
Grind the idea down to the bare minimum, something you think you can build.
Then, once you've built that, begin to add features - what would you also like to happen in the game? All the time, make sure you don't plan something outrageous, but simply a small incremental step from what you already have!
SpookyLoop@reddit
On the project side of things, getting my feet wet in web development is what helped me. Web development really does cut out a lot of the chore involved with "setting up" a project (compared to trying to write a serious app in something like Java or C++). If you're interested in starting a project, I would look up "[language] full stack chat web app tutorial" on YouTube, pick something reasonably recent (no older than 5 years), and just follow along. You can use the code from that as a base for a lot of other ideas.
On the DSA side of things, neetcode.io/practice. Follow the 150 list, and mainly focus on the video explanations the first time around (don't waste time trying to solve things yourself at first). Then go through it again and try to remember the solutions. If you're decent at remembering the solutions (and more importantly, why those solutions solve those problems), you can move onto trying to solve random problems on LeetCode / Hackerrank.
Note: That's all a little more geared towards "interviews", but it's still a pretty solid way of learning quite a bit of DSA.
Beyond that, it's a good idea to just have fun and follow your curiosity at this stage. It's normal to feel anxious about doing anything at your level, but that's one of the hurdles you gotta get past as a developer. IMO, following your curiosity and spending some time doing what you want goes a long way towards helping you build confidence as a professional.
stepback269@reddit
You are in school for the purpose of "learning".
But what exactly constitutes learning? Are there different kinds of learning? Different techniques? Some better for you but not others and vise versa?
This summer, learn from the experts about the best methods for memorizing stuff ("The Memory Book"?) and for comprehending stuff. Learning how to learn is the most effective use of your off time. Check out tutorials on PKM (Personal Knowledge Management) and perhaps even note-making via Obsidian. Once you improve your understanding of the learning process (yours and that of your class mates) you will be able to manage your anxieties about what comes next a little better.
Past-File3933@reddit
When I was about to finish college, I had one professor that told me that what I know as far as programming goes is that I now know what programming is. We made some CRUD applications in various languages, learned about databases and whatnot, but he essentially told me that I knew nothing.
When I asked him what I should do to get better as far as making something, he asked me what I wanted to make. I said I liked making websites and video games. He told me to chose one and I chose websites. He then told me that I should start remaking websites, not large ones like amazon, facebook, netflix, but to look at local businesses and remake their sites. Find what works and what does not work, make them better in either design or functionality.
I did that for a few sites, one day it clicked and I got comfortable with building and designing sites from scratch. I learned to make a custom PHP framework then moved on to using Laravel.
I would suggest the same, make some clones, learn how other applications did the same thing, build up your personal library and enjoy what you build. One day it will click.
SkillSalt9362@reddit
both data structer and building project are important. I suggest do babby steps in both. few project ideas:
exchangerate-api.com.)requestswith OpenWeatherMap API to show weather info by city.)Zinx_23@reddit
I feel making projects would surely help you specially that kind of which have a real problem solving stuff ..as you have learnt a little bit of everything ..make sure to pick out one stack which ever you feel is good to go and make something out of it in these summers ..making clones and all are outdated these days ! And trust me having the projects on git and having the validity from the social platforms builds confidence too.
ReserveLast7791@reddit
I might not be a student in computer science but I think I can help
Make a project thought. You can always asked chatgpt to generate you a project. Also maybe try solving problems on exercism or leetcode easy to understand stuff more.
also while building try making the base skeleton code yourself and not ask chatgpt to generate large chunks . max a single snippet
DO NOT GO FOR COURSES.
You'll learn nothing since you already understand the basics. You'll just waste time
Also DSA does help a bit but try projects first
Fit_Sheriff@reddit
Start out with recalling what you have learnt. Then if you can afford, get a course from udemy on sale. As they are super cheap in sale and sale comes about every 10-15 days or so. If you can't afford it try out to get a mind map of the topics of the particular programming language and take on the steps to one by one learn those topics through youtube. And if you feel overwhelmed just try to shut down your pc and think how could I tackle this challenge.
If you want any help regarding python you are free to contact me
EsShayuki@reddit
What do you want to do? If the answer is nothing, why do you want to program in the first place? Purely to make money? There are easier ways to do that.
The answer still is personal projects. Data structures and containers are much better to learn when considering your project's requirements and tailoring them to fit it, than to memorize different types of data structures and containers while having no clue about how and when they would actually be best to use over the alternatives. And conclusions you reach on your own you will memorize and internalize much better than conclusions you reach because a book told you that that's how it works, which might or might not even be correct.
joranstark018@reddit
Learning about DSA may improve your understanding of how to express problems using abstract terms and how to implement these abstract terms. Much of our work is to translate real-world problems into suitable data structures and algorithms and then implement them. We also have known "design patterns" and "software architecture patterns" that can help us when we design different systems (they also give us a common vocabulary that we can use when reasoning about different solutions). It is not that you "must" learn DSA to know how to write programs, but it will probably enrich your knowledge base, enhance your problem-solving skills, and give you an understanding of the performance implications of different data structures and algorithms.
Having a "side project" is orthogonal to learning about different programming concepts. Having your own project allows you to challenge your assumptions of how things work, put into practice what you have learned (and learn even more from your own mistakes).
You may check the FAQ (in the sidebar); it has, for example, a section on different exercises and project ideas that can be helpful.
Different-Active1315@reddit
Find something that interests you. Find a problem currently impacting said thing. See if you can fix it.
Yet to use ai but very carefully. Tell it not to give you answers and to explain things to job like you were in 10th grade. Ask from several different angles and ask it to justify its answers, think before responding, and not to make things up.
It can make you quizzes and games too. Just be careful about it.
OwnRevolution732@reddit
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