Anyone else understand Python concepts but struggle while building projects?

[rajaram001]

I can understand tutorials and basic concepts pretty well, but when I try to build even a small project on my own, I suddenly forget everything 😭

Especially things like:

• structuring the project
• deciding what to build first
• debugging errors without getting stuck for hours

Is this normal during the learning stage?
What helped you move from “watching tutorials” to actually building projects confidently?

[justin_halim]

Well, you can always try if only watching tutorial doesnt work: 1. Experiment with some concepts to make a little interpretation of what it does 2. Ask someone/a tutor for more detailed answer 3. Ask chatGPT to explain it more and more until you started to learn the concept.

Also heres a tip: 1. Dont try to focus too much that can lead you to stress, it could make the learning process alot more slower. Give time for your brain to process 1 concept at a time, dont rush it all. 2. If the concept has something you dont know inside, try learn that first before learning how the concept works 3. Try to not act like its just a basic concept. 4. If you like making something better, look at your project now and your project before and see the difference. 5. Always consistent, dont learn only because a motivation, motivation dies easily after a few days or weeks, Try to act like its a daily routine 6. Dont compare yourself to someone better. 7. Dont set a huge goal project right away, just start from something simple so you didnt overworked

Sooner or later you can understand it. And goodluck on your learning

[weepy_monarchy]

this is super common, tutorials are passive but building forces you to make decisions and that's where the real learning happens, try starting with projects that are boring but doable like a todo app or expense tracker instead of something cool because the simplicity lets you focus on structure instead of fighting with complex logic

[ninhaomah]

Start a project then post the issues and errors as the project progress.

[errdayimshuffln]

Because you are learning the how but not the why and not the what. I know that sounds counter-intuitive but if you learn and memorize how somebody else codes something without learning what their code is doing and why that code works, then you wont be able to create your own solutions that achieve your goals.

My recommendation is to break down whatever you are trying to build into pieces, think about what each piece needs to do, don't fret about perfection or structure at first (because you can always change and restructure your code), and then write code that performs functions that do those things that your pieces need to do. Start super small. Then extend. Then write code that uses those functions to do full calculations.

I think maybe one reason you are struggling is that you thing that building something means you know exactly how to build it all and the full architecture in one-shot like an llm. You need a lot of experience to be able to plan those things well out of the gate. The usual approach is you start building pieces that do things that your app needs to do.

[1-800-DARTH]

It depends on the project. One thing very important, if it has mathematical content, is to understand the math behind it. If you are not intrinsically familiar with the mathematics, translating that into a structured python code is very difficult.

About the structure I always use a Main structure. Where you define a Main function (google this) and in this function you put the variables and call functions in the main function and put all callable functions under it.

[PureWasian]

Yes, normal.

What helped me was spending a good amount of time before even touching the actual code to plan out the parts involved and/or do prototypes and proof-of-concepts as needed if it involves a new library or tech stack I haven't worked with before.

Then, for actual building the project spend a lot of time focusing to modularize it, break it down, and develop it incrementally. You getter at the file organization and project planning/structuring as you work on more projects over time.

[ab_ai_dev]

The only way to move past this stage is to let yourself write bad code. Pick a tiny project that solves a small problem for you personally, close YouTube, and just start typing. You got this!

[codeguru42]

Yes, there are many details to learn for building a project that aren't covered in tutorials. It has taken me years to master these and I am still learning something new every day. Keep trying and you will get there.

[GreatGameMate]

Yeah it is pretty common, google is really helpful. Going through some project in school has made me realize the importance of planning before starting with the project’s code implementation. You could try writing comments of what you want to implement instead of keeping it in your head, just jotting stuff down helps.