No idea what to do
Posted by AmogeUs@reddit | learnprogramming | View on Reddit | 7 comments
I've been doing python for a bit now, finished my first year in comp sci (python) and going into my second but I don't know what to do and how to improve my programming. I'll go on leetcode and I can only do a few of the easy problems and everything else I have no idea how to even begin. Even if I follow a project on youtube half of the things I've never seen before and I go from trying to learn from it to just straight up copying it without thinking.
What should I be doing? Every online course I try just does the same beginner fundamentals and I still make no progress. Should I be learning other languages? Are there better online courses to follow?
HomemadeBananas@reddit
I wouldn’t be so worried about leetcode, most of the time you won’t ever be doing things like this in actual programming. I would pick something you want to build and start doing it.
Just some simple web app maybe, I wouldn’t even worry about React or any frontend frameworks, just build something with Django or Rails. Doesn’t have to be any crazy idea, just build something basic todo list app to get your feet wet. See then can you add a login system, etc. Just start with basic things to avoid getting overwhelmed.
But just one year into a computer science program it’s pretty normal to feel like this, don’t be discouraged. Learning comp sci you’re gonna be starting with more conceptual things rather than learning to build actual useful things.
Madlykeanu@reddit
You should stop worrying about learning another language right now and pick a small project you actually care about, like a simple game or tool, and force yourself to break it into pieces and google each unknown part. That way you learn by solving real problems
fortunate-wrist@reddit
Hey - completely get what stage you’re at. First of all it may just be that you need to be patient.
Alternatively, if you don’t want to be patient and want to learn as much as you can quickly then I think one thing you can do, is pick a project and learn how to build it end to end - picking up skills along the way.
The most important thing you want to do now is learn how to think about problems and solve them using what you know.
Then when you come to a place where your skills aren’t quite there, find the specific materials to teach you that. For example if you don’t know yet how to architect a solution - what a video on how to architect a solution and then apply it to your project.
If something like this sounds like it could be what adds value to you - dm me and I can give you some guiding points
laveshnk@reddit
Leetcode is a great place to start, dont worry if you cant do the harder problems it is not supposed to be easy. Even lots of 4th years cant do some of those, it takes lots of practise and time.
Start by figuring out what you want to make: Do you want to design websites? Or make a stand-alone application? Maybe you want to train a simple AI/ML model using sci kit learn? Or learn security or blockchain?
Learning a high level overview is the first step to learning programming.
Then u pick a project and start slowly, youtube videos might be only 15-20 minutes long but the creator comes from years of experience and training to get to those 15-20 minutes.
Dont give up and start copying blindly, learn about every syntax, constantly google and ask on forums how and what to do stuff.
And use AI to learn. Its an amazing tool for learning and teaching syntax especially
johnpeters42@reddit
Strongly disagree with using AI. AI is OP's "I just end up copy pasting without learning", but worse.
Whatever source you use, do not assume that it's correct, or that it's correct for the specific thing that you want. Experiment until you understand what actually works and what doesn't.
laveshnk@reddit
Ah yes I agree, AI is probably not the best thing to recommend to someone like that.
Yea its all a process of trial and error, and trying hard to build something yourself instead of copy pasting
Dappster98@reddit
Based on this, I think you know what the problem is, because you perfectly outline what ends up happening which seems a bit disingenuous.
Try creating stuff on your own. If you really must follow a project on YouTube, do your research on how the code works. See something you don't know about? Google it. Read docs about it.
These tutorials or courses or whatever, are just the stepping stones for you to jump off of into the world of programming. They're not meant to teach you everything. If they did, there'd be no such thing as innovation. There'd be no creativity. There'd be no novelty.
Embrace the struggle. You'll end up learning things more, and by surprise, which is a great way to learn to remember how to do things; by getting that epiphany.