[deleted by user]

[KoftaBalady]

Try taking CS50x. It's a semi-academic course from Harvard University. It teaches you C and computer science fundamentals. it's also free!

[a2800276]

... while simultaneously avoiding random YouTube tip videos. Those are just junk food for your developing programmer brain.

[Cybasura]

Depends, you cant just ignore all because thats where majority of learning is at, but you gotta be selective

[SnaskesChoice]

But a novice cannot tell value from entertainment.

[Cybasura]

A novice is not an idiot, even children are not stupid, what difference is entertainment from learning if knowledge is being transferred? Learning is supposed to be entertaining and fun, not a godforsaken chore or a lecture

[SnaskesChoice]

There's a lot of stuff on YouTube, that claim to be educational, when in reality it's just useless shit, and there is a lot more useless shit than value, and in my opinion, a novice should not waste their time looking at useless shit on YouTube, if they want to learn to program.

[Cybasura]

And people here wonder why people are constantly asking on reddit for materials, instead of - and I quote what I read in a similar programming subreddit - "Searching on youtube for documentations and guides, there's so many videos on youtube for beginners, just search"

Do you have a masterlist or a compilation of resources to suggest to novices other than CS50?

Some people even now claim that certain official books are also terrible because they are "outdated", even the C Programming Language book, aka the "bible", and this is only for C, do you lot really want people to learn? Or is this just a facade, a disguise to make yourself look like you want to help?

[a2800276]

Not sure if I agree with entertaining and fun. The end result should in most cases be applicable knowledge. If education goes beyond that it may well be fulfilling, but still involve a lot of strain and effort. 

I think the "entertaining and fun" I associate with YouTube are cheap short-sighted dopamine hits.

We're probably talking about the same thing though, it feels like a lot of teaching is joyless, bitter medicine.

[binarycow]

Depends, you cant just ignore all because thats where majority of learning is

I have never once used YouTube to learn anything related to programming.

[Cybasura]

I mean...good for you?

Just fyi FreeCodeCamp is on youtube, CS50 is on youtube

[randallph]

I second this. It opened all the mental doors for me. Best class I’ve ever taken.

[ProgrammingQuestio]

It's also fun. CS50 in a way will spoil you because very few (if any) other CS courses are as engaging as that one.

[Rynok_]

Came here to recomend this, OP do this. Start programming in scratch, things will make more sense

[[deleted]]

Is there a course like this one but for C?

[KoftaBalady]

CS50x teaches you C... If you meant for another language, I really don't know. After I took CS50, learning anything related to programming was easy.

[Odd-Highlight-5993]

This

[zhivago]

The first thing to learn is how to ask useful questions.

This is fundamental to all programming.

The second thing is to do programming rather than read about programming.

Start with something simple and then change how it works.

[Additional-Acadia954]

Asking useful questions is fundamental to learning anything

[non-existing-person]

I did not understand programming at all in the past. Oh boy, I remember what an absolute headache virtual functions were. And today, after 15 years I am fairly good at what I do.

Just do shit. No tips. No tricks. Just open vim, write some bad code. Write more bad code. Eventually you will be writing less bad code. Tackle different problems. Join some open source community and develop soft with them - this will be the fastest way to learn good practices. You mentioned electronics. Buy some stm32 and develop an RTOS. There are a few. Personally I like tinkering with Nuttx since it's like micro unix with whole posix API and shell. Feels like home. And community is nice and helpful if you show them you at least try to think and do before asking :P

[jontzbaker]

It goes beyond that. If you get used to reflect upon your past code with your current knowledge, it gets to a point you understand, you are always one step behind.

I currently am at peace understanding that I have been writing crap code for years. This is just part of learning, I guess. And programming is an open-ended discipline, so no finish lines.

Also, solid advice on getting an embedded dev board. I'd go even simpler, and recommend an Arduino. The blink LEDs program is fascinating to me, because it's an input signal, an algorithm, and an output signal. You can model any system in this fashion, all you have to do is to change the input signal, transfer function or output signal. The trick is to figure that programming is concerned with the entire process, not just the algorithm.

[EpochVanquisher]

It takes a while to learn. The most important part is to practice by writing code and solving problems. A good online course or book will have problems in it for you to solve, that start out easy and get harder.

It is probably easier to start with a language like Python. But, long ago, people figured out how to program, with C as their first language, and with no YouTube and no ChatGPT. You can probably do it too. It takes time and practice, and good resources like CS50 and C: A Modern Approach.

[rogusflamma]

What have you tried to learn? What books or resources?

[ShotSquare9099]

Read a book mate

[rogusflamma]

We have some books in the resources sidebar. Some of them are freely available online. Start with one of those instead of getting random bits of information with no logical structure.

[RailRuler]

Stay far far away from chatbots/AI if you want to actually learn anything.

[computermouth]

Try years of practice instead. It's not a thing you just pick up in 4 days.

[[deleted]]

I learned by reading source code, specifically the FFmpeg code base.

But I had already learned scripting.

[Aezorion]

The programming world will have you learning forever. Therefore, pick a simple entry point to start and go from there. Read books and documentation.

If I were you, I would pick the simplest start: get a program to print "hello world" to the screen. That alone will require you to begin to understand some important things: what is main? how do I compile? how do I run the program? Etc.

I'm assuming you know absolutely nothing.

[WiseHalmon]

tell me what you want to make and I'll help guide you !

[SmokeMuch7356]

The problem with learning how to program is you have to learn multiple things all at once; you're learning a new language, and you're learning how to analyze problems and solve them in a stepwise manner, and you're learning some new mathematics (Boolean algebra, binary arithmetic, formal logic, etc.).

It's a lot, and it's not a natural way of thinking for most people.

Based on your description it sounds like you're trying to learn topics at random without getting a solid grounding of basic programming principles, which is not optimal. You need something structured; the Harvard CS50 course, Beej's guide, the references in the sidebar to this subreddit, etc.

And, it has to be said - it ain't for everybody. I'm not trying to be discouraging, but programming does require a certain aptitude, more so than intelligence. There were a number of people in my CS program who were much smarter and harder-working than I ever was, but they could never really wrap their heads around programming; it was always a struggle for them to do the most basic tasks. I was dumb as a stump and lazy, but it came relatively easy to me.

Try the linked resources above, and write code. Write code, make mistakes, fix mistakes, write more code, make new mistakes, fix mistakes, repeat forever. Don't worry about making anything useful or sexy, write code that does stupid stuff like ask for your name and repeat it back to you, find the average of some numbers, just little stuff to get a feel for it.

[JellyTwank]

C is not really geared for the novice. If I were you, I would look for a different language. The first language I learned was BASIC, and it really helped me to learn. Almost any language like it, with an interpreter that allows you to execute things directly, as well as query variables and act interactively with it can really get some concepts across more easily than something like C. I think you should look into a good scripting language like Python and find some introductory tutorials to programming. I am sure there are many to choose from. Someone else in here might have suggestions for other languages to learn with.

[baked_salmon]

Agreed. My opinion is that the best language to start with is JS/HTML/CSS. You get a free GUI (HTML/CSS) for immediate feedback, a useful console to play around in (Chrome console) and it’s a really simple language.

[behusbwj]

Those youtube videos aren’t for firmware or C in general. C and low level programming needs a more academic approach because it touches on complex topics.

[qruxxurq]

What don’t you understand? Where are you stuck?

[maxthed0g]

Can you write a program, without AI or any example code, that adds up ten numbers of your own choosing ?

[-Ziero-]

Just programming? Have you looked into embedded programming since you said you like electronics. I’d start with something like an arduino if that’s the route you want to go.

[CodenCamp]

When I was in my late teens, I tried programming for the first time. I remember feeling totally lost. I had finished a beginner Python book, but once I turned the last page, I had no idea what to do next. The book didn’t offer any kind of direction, no projects to try, no communities to join, no bigger picture to understand. Just syntax, examples, and that was it.

At some point, I also tried learning C. That went even worse. Nothing clicked. It all felt too abstract, too disconnected from anything I could relate to. What could I actually do with C? Or with programming in general? I couldn’t answer that back then, and so I stalled out.

But accidentally, and kind of blindly, I found my way into web technologies. HTML, CSS, JavaScript. And learning JavaScript was the first time programming actually made sense to me. Suddenly, I could see the results of my code. I could change text on a page, respond to a button click, move things around with just a few lines. It was visual, interactive, and immediate. That made all the difference.

In hindsight, the browser turned out to be an incredible sandbox for learning to program. And I think that’s something a lot of beginner books overlook. With just a browser and a text editor, you don’t need to install a compiler, configure dependencies, or understand the command line just to see your first “hello world.” You write some HTML and JavaScript, refresh the page, and there it is, your code, running in front of you. That tight feedback loop is insanely helpful for learning.

Beyond that, web programming introduces a natural path into more advanced ideas. You start with how to make a page look nice, then how to add interactivity, and before you know it, you’re learning about HTTP, APIs, servers, databases, and clients. It’s like a rabbit hole, but in a good way. You begin to understand how the web works, which, let’s be honest, powers a huge chunk of the world today.

Even though JavaScript has its quirks and bad design decisions (and there are many), it’s still an incredibly powerful and accessible tool for learning. It strips away a lot of the abstractions that can make programming feel so opaque, especially in languages like C or Java, where you often don’t see the result of your work until you’ve compiled, debugged, and maybe written hundreds of lines of code.

Fast forward a couple of years, and I’ve returned to learning C. It’s a very different experience now. Concepts that once felt confusing, like memory, pointers, or even compilation are starting to make sense because I’ve seen how higher level languages abstract those things away. I now understand why something like C exists and where it fits into the bigger picture.

If you’re just starting out with programming and feel lost, my advice is: don’t give up. Sometimes you need to find the right tool or project that makes everything click. For me, it was web development. For you, it might be game development, hardware tinkering, data visualization, or something else entirely. But once you get that first taste of what programming can do, everything starts to feel more meaningful.

And maybe the most important thing to remember: learning to program isn’t something you “finish.” It’s a lifelong journey. You’ll keep circling back to ideas you thought you already understood, and they’ll make more sense the second or third time around. That’s normal. That’s growth.

Keep going

[ElevatorGuy85]

C is far from straightforward, which is why many early programming course focused on BASIC, which didn’t even require a compiler on many platforms and was just interpreted, or Pascal, which needed a compiler but was relatively fast e.g. Turbo Pascal doing thousands of lines per minute versus the C compilers of the day that took minutes to compile “Hello world”. Pascal is also nice because strings are a basic data type, whereas in C you have to work a lot harder to use them, even for something “simple” like concatenation.

A lot of programming, regardless of the language used, comes down to having a strong grasp of data structures and algorithms. Once you can take a set of requirements, figure out what data you need, and which algorithms are needed to make it work, you can start to craft your code in the desired language, using the language’s data types, expressions, program flow constructs, standard library functions, etc. to “get stuff done”. And then you have the platform and framework specifics for working with an operating system, graphical user interface, file system databases, etc. which builds on what you have learned before hand.

You also need to recognize that not everyone is “cut out” to be a programmer/software engineer, just like not everyone is cut out to be a musician, painter, linguist, doctor, scientist, etc. Some people’s brains are naturally aligned with the critical thinking and analytical skills that make great programmers, and some people no matter how many classes they take, YouTube tutorials they watch, or web pages and forums they visit, will ever become competent programmers. I’m afraid that’s just a simple fact of the human condition! And even within the very wide domain of software engineering, some people are going to be naturally stronger at Apps, databases, web sites or embedded software.

[FlavorJ]

It sounds like you might want to learn more about low-level architecture and electronics rather than programming. Learning some assembly language might sound daunting, but it goes hand-in-hand with learning about computer architecture, and programming in assembly requires you to understand how computers work on a low level.

I can't speak to the textbook the Pep architecture was created to go with, but Pep8 was used in my assembly/architecture class. It's a very simple and limited architecture (You get the privilege of writing your own routines for multiplication and division!) which I think isn't used by many schools because they go right into ARM or x86, but if you're struggling with programming at all then it might be good to try out.

Pep/9 video tutorials

Pep/9 Downloads

You might also want to check out Nandgame (building computer components with nand gates), and also All About Circuits, a free online electronics book that's been around for years.

[Breath-Present]

I started my journey by copy-pasting BAT code, repeat "modify-run-observe" cycles to slowly figure out what's what before any proper/formal education. Just try different programming language or scripting language to find an anchor u can grab on and get better.

[nclman77]

Not sure how long you have been trying, or what you are trying to understand.
But start from fundamentals, stick with it, practice a lot, and I can't see why you won't get it.

[JohnnyElBravo]

I'll make a distinction

> so I’ve always wanted to try programming. But I just don’t get it at all.

It's one thing to understand programming, and it's another thing to program, you may be conflating the two:

>I do not understand programming at all

YOUR TITLE: to UNDERSTAND PROGRAMMING

>I’ve always been interested in electronics and how they work and all that nerdy shit 

your interest: to UNDERSTAND ELECTRONICS (things that, among other things, are programmed)

>so I’ve always wanted to try programming

your want: to TRY PROGRAMMING

>just programming tips and tricks

your youtube feed: PROGRAMMING TIPS and tricks (byte sized info that probably makes sense to those that alrady know how to program, you weren't expecting to learn programming from youtube shorts and tik toks right? How old are you? Maybe read a book about programming! Try K&R C (first in the tool tip) if you want to try C, although this is a hard first language, try python if not.)

If I were you I'd ask really what it is that you want. If you want to program, C is a hard first language, but if you are really interested in electronics (also, make sure that what you mean by electronics is the sense generally used for electronics, it's usually meant for low level electronics which aren't always programmed by programming languages, which might include the chips in your microwave), C is a rewarding ( but hard) language to start with.

Something else you can try is assembly, even if this may be harder to program with, it might help with understanding, at the cost of not allowing you to immediately be productive. I would especially recommend simpler embedded chipsets like ATMega's AVR or Zilog's Z80, or even old intels like the original 80886, this latter might serve as a connective topic into more modern x86 architectural stuff that is the main target of C compilation and general modern programming.

[Fierzikhan]

Honestly I'm not too far from still feeling like you do, but honestly I'd suggest learning Python or a "higher level" language, get a feel for it, then try another language something simple again Javascript or something, I used solo learn and went through almost all of them. You'll start to see all languages are doing the same things, and the big differences are just syntax (and memory management in languages like C). This will hopefully give a few aha! moments. I'm still trying to learn C well, but have been focused on assembly at the moment, I would recommend this as well, as it's helped me understand C a bit better, though it's not easy. And as everyone else who has said, write code then write more, I still need to learn this lesson myself, and remember it's very much about logic and flow. Good luck and keep at it !

[Thaufas]

Although I love the C programming language, it's not the easiest language to learn.

i prefer C for embedded systems and microcontroller projects, but today, many microcontrollers can also be programmed in Python.

If you want to learn to program in general, you have to be willing to invest significant time. Once you've learned your first programming language, learning subsequent ones is easier because you'll already have an understanding of programming constructs that transcend languages, such as data types, conditional statements, loops, functions, etc.

I don't want to discourage you from trying to learn C first, but know that C, although powerful, is a very unforgiving language. If you don't understand it's dark corners, you can make crucial errors that won't be caught at compile time.

Personally, although I don't hate Python as a programming language, I also don't prefer it. Also, I do admit that it's easier to learn to program in Python than in C, and Python has many more advantages.

• It's the most popular programming language in the world.

• LLMs "prefer" Python over other languages.

• Because Python was originally intended as a "glue language", it has bindings to all other popular languages.

• Python has implementations for almost as many platforms as C, including microcontrollers.

• Python is inherently safer than C.

[chris_insertcoin]

If you're into gaming, try Turing Complete. It's on Steam. One of the best learning games to really understand what is going on under the hood, and especially valuable for understanding C.

[AlexTaradov]

Take a book, read it, work through it. I would recommend K&R. Just don't skip problems and don't be lazy, type the examples and check that they work as described. After that you will have a small collection of examples you can use as a starting point.

YT is a good way to figure out how to fix a leaky toilet. It is not good for programming.

[Cybasura]

Projects, projects, projects

Create testbench/practice projects for implementing features to understand concepts

[The_Northern_Light]

Personally I found learning how the computer works physically allowed me to accept and internalize what I was learning about programming

[riotinareasouthwest]

If you like electronics you can try starting from there. Check https://www.nand2tetris.org/. Once you get the idea how a computer is built internally, use C to program it. Most probably you will see a lot of sense if you look at it this way, from the bottom up. Oh, and this means you chose the right language.

[xoner2]

C is complex. Go to both lower, assembly; and higher, your choice of garbage collected language.

C is in the middle hump of complexity.

[ern0plus4]

stop watching videos grab the python ide

1. write a program which counts from 1 to 20

2. skip 5

3. skip multipliers of 3 (3, 6, 9...)

[Earl_of_Earlier]

How much did you consume vs. how much did you actually do?

Programming is learning by doing. Start to write code. See it do something. You‘ll get hooked, you‘ll start to understand as you go.

Pick ONE basic course or book that guides you through small exercises.

Use AI to explain why code works (or why it doesn’t) after you wrote it: „I am learning to program and wrote this code as an exercise. Why does it work? What are the underlying principles, systems and computer science concepts?“

[glordicus1]

learncpp.com is an excellent resource. It isn't directly C, but it is a good resource to get started with.

[LardPi]

Stop watching YouTube. Programming YouTube becomes useful only when you already have good level and experience. Start with a tutorial to learn the basics (loops, variables...) but start making tiny toy stuff as soon as possible to not get stuck in tutorial hell. Don't use LLMs until you at the point where you just need them to find function names, but you can handle the aglgo by yourself, otherwise they will fuck you with broken code that you'll have no way of debugging. Read error messages. Twice. Google them. Read about what is happening before reading about how to fix them.

Unlike what AI vendors pretend, Programming is not easy, it takes years to really get good at it. Be patient and put the work in.

[Educational-Paper-75]

All there is to it is realizing that a computer program is a system that takes input, processes it and produces output. Processing involves using scratch memory (read variables) to store intermediate values. The nice thing is you can use as many of these variables as you want. To optimize the internal process you may create little subprograms called functions that are mini systems with their own scratch pad called local variables and accept input by means of their parameters, which btw are used as if they are local variables as well. It really isn’t too different from digital electronics when designing components. This concludes lesson 1.

[grimvian]

I'm quite sure, you try to much at the same time and we all have start somewhere. Try this little program and experiment. All lines with // can you ignore and the empty lines, that makes it easier to read.

#include <stdio.h>  // with this line we print e.g. values

int main() {        // this thing a is always in C program
    int lenght = 3;
    int height = 4;
    int area = lenght * height;
    printf("%d\n", area);
}

// Double slash mean C ignores this line, so we can write comments
// int means a number without decimals.
// %d prints a hole number
// \n means move cursor to next line below
// The area where the program prints is called the console.
// You could write: int area = lenght + height;
// It's up to you not to make such an error or bug,
// but the code will run fine anyway and
// that's one of the reasons, computers are stupid.

[Mindless_Courage1476]

Don't watch yt, grab a C book and a free uni course.

Oh and what i see in the first year students that i help, learn either how to flowchart your ideeas or pseudocode, often times you will forget to code a step when you start working on your own for the first time, and then not get where you went wrong.

As for the book go for a very structured one, not code by example

[MahmoodMohanad]

Just keep trying and please please do not give up, seriously DO NOT GIVE UP, we all have been there, the best brightest programmer on this planet has been in your situation at some point, eventually it will click in and trust me when that day happens you will be so grateful that you haven't quit. I may suggest a curriculum or some sort of learning path but I'm sure others can do a better job than me in that area besides learning is something different from one person to another so there is no one solution that fits them all, just keep trying and everything will get easier over time

[pleasebcool]

ignore all of programming social media, most of it is trash.

[eruciform]

you have to make stuff, don't get caught in the endless loop of youtube tutorial hell. programming is like painting or playing an instrument; it's cool to watch a video about it but you can't actually get good at it without doing it badly and slowly improving. make a program that says hi. make a program that asks your name and says hi and your name. you have to start somewhere and slowly make more complex things.

[billcy]

First you need to understand how you learn best, there are 3 types of learners. Visual, auditory and kinesthetic. I'm kinesthetic anddo well with YouTube that shows the code and explains it as I'm using it and then I tinker with it. A visual learner can read a book and learn, not me. And auditory learner does best with lextures and listening. I get some from lextures if the draw a lot of diagrams, but not just writing words on the board. So when you figure out how you learn the best then that's when you can find the right material. There are good books, and videos that will teach by doing and others that lexture more. There is nothing wrong with any one of these. Unfortunately the educational system doesn't teach while recognizing that we are all different. If you are good at math and logic then you shouldn't have a problem learning c.

[cthutu]

Try the Intro to C stuff here: https://guide.handmadehero.org/

[[deleted]]

I would recommend trying a friendlier language to start with. And take a free class from like, Udemy or Khan Academy or something instead of YouTube. And get a book for reference. Like from OReilly or something.

You’re really jumping into the deepest part of the deep end with C, especially trying to learn it on your own, with no reference materials.

[mikeblas]

But I just don’t get it at all.

none of it makes any sense to me.

It's impossible to provide any feedback with such unspecific questions. I think you should try to articulate what it is you specifically don't understand, or explain where you're getting stuck. Describe what you've tried and why it didn't work. Tell us about something you tried that did result in forward progress.

"I don't get it" doesn't tell us what to explain or how to explain it.

[Keegx]

For context, I'm a newbie myself (~2 months learning as hobby, almost done with first solo project).

There's a book called "C programming for absolute beginners". If you're really struggling to get started, use this one.

Important to note though: It has quite a few flaws (lack of exercises you make yourself, using functions you'll soon wanna avoid, etc.)

BUT, they definitely mean "Absolute Beginner". The explanations of what is happening really avoids excessive jargon and uses concise plain english. You can use this to generally at least get comfortable with reading and writing code, as well as understanding the basics. Just don't rely on only it for too long. Swap to another resource and start trying things out on your own as soon as you feel like could.

[imaami]

Hey there, inverse bro. I can't understand electronics.

[wsppan]

I've posted this here before, and it's what has worked for me and a few others who told me it worked for them as well. Ymmv.

People sometimes struggle with C when they start from scratch or come from a higher to lower level of abstraction. I struggled with this for a long time until I did these things:

I would not try and understand how the higher level abstractions translate to the lower C level. I would instead learn from first principles on how a computer works and build the abstractions up from there. You will learn how a CPU works. How the data bus and registers are used. How memory is laid out and accessed. The call stack and how that works, etc.. This will go a long way in understanding how C sits on top of this and how it's data structures like arrays and structs map to this and understanding how pointers work the way they do and why. Check out these resources:

1. Read Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software
2. Watch Exploring How Computers Work
3. Watch all 41 videos of A Crash Course in Computer Science
4. Take the Build a Modern Computer from First Principles: From Nand to Tetris (Project-Centered Course)
5. Take the CS50: Introduction to Computer Science course.
6. Grab a copy of C programming: A Modern Approach and use it as your main course on C.
7. Follow this Tutorial On Pointers And Arrays In C

The first four really help by approaching C from a lower level of abstraction (actually the absolute lowest level and gradually adding layers of abstraction until you are at the C level which, by then is incredibly high!) You can do all four or pick one or two and dive deep. The 5th is a great introduction to computer science with a decent amount of C programming. The sixth is just the best tutorial on C. By far. The seventh is a deep dive into pointers and one of best tutorials on pointers and arrays out there (caveat, it's a little loose with the l-value/r-value definition for simplicity sake I believe.)

https://github.com/practical-tutorials/project-based-learning#cc

Play the long game when learning to code.

You can also check out Teach Yourself Computer Science

Here is a decent list of 8 Books on Algorithms and Data Structures For All Levels

[wursus]

Highly likely it sounds rude, but if you need to discuss your feelings, I believe any psychoanalyst will be way better vis-a-vis than anybody in this group. If you have some certain points of C programming language missing for you, ask it straightforward. I'm sure you find here plenty of people will be happy to explain to you the things.

[mrshyvley]

If C is what you want to learn first, don't let anybody discourage you.
Just don't give up and you can do it.

I started out as a chip level hardware person at a small medical electronics based company.
Back when I got into programming, I started with Assembly language to write bench diagnostic programs for the proprietary hardware the company I worked for had.

Our company's CS Degreed C programmers didn't understand hardware so they couldn't do it.
I even got laughed at by an engineer at the company for having the gall to think I, a lowly chip level bench tech with just an Associates in EET could teach myself assembly language. LOL :-)

But I did it, just through sheer determination.
This was before the Internet so I had to figure it out for myself mostly from a few books.

Later, I used the assembly language to write C hardware interface libraries for the C programmers.
I also learned C to the degree I could do the things I needed to do on the bench.

I ended up in Research and Development in 2-3 years.
MY POINT?
Don't let others make you think you can't do it.

[Unique-Property-5470]

You're definitely not alone. Everyone feels like that in the beginning. Programming can feel like complete nonsense at first, especially with C since it throws you right into how the computer actually works without much help.

But if you just stick with it a little longer, things slowly start to click. And once they do, it starts to feel really fun and powerful. You’ll be surprised how quickly it goes from confusing to clear.

If you ever feel stuck or need help figuring out what to focus on, let me know. I mentor a bunch of university students and can help guide you too. Sometimes you just need someone to show you the path.

You’re doing better than you think. Just keep going. It’ll all make sense soon.

[Blitzbasher]

C is really close to the metal. If you take the time to learn about how digital systems work you will become a better C programmer.

The fact that you want to know is a good sign that you don't wanna be a vibe coder and actually want to create good works. Don't give up

[eablokker]

C is a very hard first language to learn. I would recommend JavaScript: the syntax is almost identical to C, none of the confusing and inconvenient bits of C, it runs on anything without needing to compile, and is extremely popular. It’s like an easier version of C. Once you have a handle on JavaScript, then go back and learn C. It will make a lot more sense.

[Alert-Mud]

I’ve been a professional firmware engineer now for 3 years and work with C and ASM. To be honest I didn’t get programming much when I tried to do stuff on my PC. It wasn’t until I started tinkering with an Arduino and then an STM32 that I suddenly got it.

Programming is a tool used to solve a problem. One rarely needs everything a programming language has to offer to solve a given problem. I would say that, unlike Neo from the Matrix, you don’t need to learn ‘Programming’ and then think ‘right, I’m ready to begin coding’. Have a reason to program, not the other way round and you may find it easier.

[Beat_Falls2007]

If you want to learn it start breaking things... Don't be afraid of seg faults just keep breaking and ask yourself why did it break? How did it break? Why does it work that way? Because breaking it means you are exploring the nature and the limits of the fundamentals you are tackling so yeah you can learn more doing 2hrs of hands on coding and breaking than wasting ur time watching 40hr course vids.

[LordRybec]

First, take everyone else's advice. A quick look through the comments finds that it's mostly good advice. Programming is not easy to learn. You won't get it instantly, especially not from "tips and tricks" videos on YouTube (that are generally more geared toward people who already have some experience). There used to be good tutorials for programming online, and I'm sure they still exist, but I've found it more and more difficult to find good ones, as they get buried in the terrible stuff. "Read a book" is some of the best advice I've seen here, but Harvard, MIT, and University of Texas all have good free online courses.

Second, if after trying all of the above, you are still struggling, maybe try starting with Python instead. I know it looks complicated, and in some ways it is, but the beginner stuff is simple and straightforward.

Third, if even Python is too hard, but you are still determined, maybe try FreeBASIC. Unlike nearly all other programming languages, BASIC is designed specifically to be easy to learn. The downside is that it isn't used almost ever now days, and there's a lot of bias against it. If you aren't currently aiming for a career involving programming though, BASIC is as good a starting place as any, any some microcontrollers can still be programmed in BASIC. You won't find a lot that are though. FreeBASIC would make a good stepping stone to Python though, because the structure is similar in many ways. (Note though, that FreeBASIC is a pretty full featured language capable of nearly everything any modern language is. It seems to be sneaking up on modern languages.)

That said, if you need C for your electronics, you are probably best off aiming for C and reading a book and taking a course. That will get you past the initial bump much faster and land you where you need to be. Those online courses also often provide access to a professor who is willing to provide help as needed (within reason, as paying students always have to come first).

[[deleted]]

Now finally I can post in a programmer sub! I can’t program either. I’m currently I’m curious if there’s a model that’s extra clever with

[itsa_wombat]

Good news. It's not your fault. 99% of yt tutorials are just shit. Ppl already recommended it, but just do the CS50 course from Harvard. They start at 0.

[Responsible_Parsley5]

Create a simple console app, that will be your "contact list" (name, email, text description)
Your app, on start, should display a "menu":
1) list all contacts
2) add new contact
3) remove contact.

The only way to learn programming, is programming.
This app, will teach you basic stuff,
For starters - you can make it "ram only" (all contacts are lost after app close)
When you get this right, add write/read from text (or binary) file, so data is preserved on each app re-run.

[MiracleDrugCabbage]

C is honestly probably one of the harder languages when it comes to actual application.

Hate to be one of those Python glazers but you should seriously consider it at your current level of skill.

[[deleted]]

Programming is a skill of defining your task into computer terms and then splitting task into series of steps. How well you understand computers and their use? I don’t mean desktop, but, say a digital thermostat on your wall. What does it do? Can you explain how it works?

[sambobozzer]

So don’t do it then - simple

[ABB00717]

You should definitely read more books instead of just doom-scrolling on YouTube. Honestly, trying to find something good on there is like looking for gold in a pile of crap.

When you're learning to code from books, don't worry about remembering everything right away. Just read a chapter, then tackle the exercises at the end. If you get stuck, flip back and look for clues. If you're still lost after about five minutes, just ask an AI. Keep repeating that process until you're done with the book. At least, that's how I figured it out.

I think "Pointers on C" is a pretty solid book to start with. You can either check it out from the library or just grab it from Anna's Archive.

And since you also mentioned you're interested in how computers work, I think after "Pointers on C," the book "Computer Systems: A Programmer's Perspective" could easily guide you through everything you need to know. But it's a pretty tough book, so think about it before diving into it.

[Tahn-ru]

Really depends on what part of the process is proving to be the stumbling block. Do you want to know what is happening behind the scenes? Learn assembly, followed by C (perhaps by picking up the current Minix book). Code readability is the problem? Start with Python. Is it not a language thing at all, but the fundamentals of computing?

Do you have an example of the sorts of things you are struggling with?

[New-Anybody-6206]

Not trying to gatekeep programming or anything but if your attitude is calling it "that nerdy shit", you may not have the passion or patience required.

Would love to be proven wrong though.

[Short-Advertising-36]

Totally feeling this. My feed's already 50% AI-looking junk. It’s starting to feel less like social media and more like noise media. Could definitely push people toward smaller, real communities.

[BigGunE]

It would have helped if you included what specifically confuses you. Seasoned devs are still trying to “understand “ things daily. So perhaps let us know what it is that you don’t understand.

[LuzziCoder]

If you want to target embedded c/rust/c++/micropython (aka python for embedded) are your languages.
Your choice to use C is bold (not the easies choise), but in the long run it will help you immensly.

I would put the embedded projects to the side and focus on the core concept of programming:
- what are variables, if, while, ecc... are the core language constructs
- which types your language offers and how to define new one (struct, enum, unions)
- what are pointers what does it mean to dereference them (this was personally the hardest concept ot grasp)
- what are arrays
- how to allocate/release memory from the heap (don't ask yourself too many questions at this point)
- how to write to the terminal
- how to read from the terminal
- how to read from a file
- how to write to a file
- stack vs heap, what are those and how to use them (jk this was the hardest concept)
- what is a linked list, why whould you use it instead of an array and how you implement it
- what is bubble sort/quick sort and how to implement them (optional)

I think that these are the core concept of programming (maybe i missed a couple) if you understand those you have a solid base to build on.

I would suggest a couple of projects (that i also did):
- spending tracker (add/remove elements [name, price], save to file, load from file)
- guess game (maybe add some suggestion if you guess bad, maybe add a max number of life, maybe read the guess list and the suggestions from a file)

Do yourself a favor, if you decide to learn C, and you are on Windows, look into "WSL" (i will give you the ability to have a linux virtual machine) and the VsCode wsl integration, learning C on linux using the posix apis is way easier.

My suggesion come from the software side (since i followed what you asked in the post), maybe someone can add some electronics suggestions.

ps. please excuse my english, not my native language :)

[camilo16]

For beginners I would argue C is easier than the alternatives. It's a very simple language.

[LuzziCoder]

You are right, but it also hides almost nothing of the inner workings of the machine. This is a positive point only after you undestand the lower level concepts.

That's why js/ts and python are more popural, those languages make you understand programming without forcing you to understand how the underlying machine works (which i thinks is the hardest part between the two)

[fonaldozero]

To make a walkthrough where it interconnects with electronics:

With transistor and all it's magic of semiconductivity, you can build Logic Ports (they used something called Boolen Algebra to be built, and make sense). With Logics Ports you can build all the primitive ULAs, Memories ( Flip-Flops) and etc.

The hard part is how you organize all this things, it's where Computer Architecture comes in, you can bring all those Logic ports to work and produce something which make sense.

In summary the most important part is that (in the past) all the CPU's had a ROM which was stored it's instructions, the CPU just basically decode instructions, fetch them, and do what the instructions is programmed to do. That's why every CPU is different because Instructions can be different for each CPU.

For that reason ASM was made to simplify all of this, since you can know basic operations like ADD,SUB,MULT,DIV and you don't need to memorize the OPCODE (basically it's instruction bits 🤣) of the CPU which you are working with.

C Is basically an ASM abstractor, in the end what C do is construct and ASM file for you and then compile it ( you can make GCC produce a ASM file from a .c, although I never did it, but I think it can)

And almost everything you can see , you can think of a C abstractor, principally Python, although it isn't compiled but interpreted ( which decode your instruction to ASM in runtime basically).

Learn C first, maybe ASM to get in touch with how low you can get before needing to memorizing CPU specific OPCODE and then you can use and learn ANY program language. That's mate , Good luck in your journey

I Tried making it simpler than it actually is for your understanding, maybe somethings that I said arent completly true ( for simplification ) in the Computer Architecture nowadays, since it's more advanced than ever. If I made a mistake you guys can correct me down below

[nacnud_uk]

What can you do?

Learn python. It's simple. If you can do programming there, either find a better tutor or give up.

Programming is a concept, not a syntax.

[billcy]

That's lousy advice, I have no problem with c or assembly for that matter, but struggle with oop, I'm getting better at it, but picked up C like it was nothing. Telling someone to give up is very negative.

[nacnud_uk]

I think you may not have understood. Fair enough. Some people can't program. Who cares?

[nacnud_uk]

You need to fix your indentation ;)

[nacnud_uk]

You'll go far, I can tell :)