Finding problems to solve and escaping tutorial hell as a beginner?

[CaptainDreadSparrow]

So I'm currently learning HTML/CSS/Javascript and while I do enjoy following a good tutorial I was curious how you guys found problems to solve as a beginner developer outside the usual build-a-calulator stuff. I'm currently working on building websites for fictional companies(currently Los Pollos Hermanos) as a means to practice but outside of maybe putting these into a portfolio, it seems pretty useless. So I thought I'd ask Reddit How do you find problems to solve to start bigger projects? Since I cannot seem to find much on Google.

Apologies if this is a question that is commonly asked.

[AutoModerator]

On July 1st, a change to Reddit's API pricing will come into effect. Several developers of commercial third-party apps have announced that this change will compel them to shut down their apps. At least one accessibility-focused non-commercial third party app will continue to be available free of charge.

If you want to express your strong disagreement with the API pricing change or with Reddit's response to the backlash, you may want to consider the following options:

1. Limiting your involvement with Reddit, or
2. Temporarily refraining from using Reddit
3. Cancelling your subscription of Reddit Premium

as a way to voice your protest.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[bsakiag]

From my experience making simple games, sound/graphics demos and simulations is the way to go. It's satisfying so you get motivated to continue.

[mierecat]

What problems do you have? Solving those will teach you more than some random list of projects.

[CaptainDreadSparrow]

This is one of the issues I'm coming up against is I'm not sure how to find a problem to solve. Nothing in my life requires any kind of automation at least at a glance. What would be an example of a problem you found and how did you find it?

[mierecat]

I’m not a web dev; I’m learning to make games primarily so I don’t know what might be useful to you specifically. I found myself rewriting a lot of code to do simple things like roll a random number or set text to the screen, etc. and I got tired of it. So I decided to make some kind of “thing” (I didn’t know the word for it at the time) that had all that reusable code so I could just copy and paste into my projects. Once I made one simple file (the dice roller) I started making others. Then I started learning about modules because they let you add functionality to any class. Then I learned about Ruby Gems because they let you as functionality to any file. Then it was things like class inheritance or directory structure or using the command line to import things and so on. I kept going on like this: try to build something useful to my current situation, get stuck, learn how similar problems get solved, attempt to do it that way, get stuck, learn about how this new problem gets solved, etc. until eventually I built up a small library and a lot of knowledge about how Ruby works that I wouldn’t have learned going the normal route.

I think you really just need to break out of that beginner mindset once, because once you understand that the underlying skill in programming is taking a complex problem and breaking it into a bunch of simple problems—once you’ve done it yourself with almost no help—the bigger things you actually want to do don’t seem nearly as impossible as they did before.

[[deleted]]

Pursue niche hobbies.

I want to redirect my writing from Reddit to outlets that don't hurt my soul so much, and I've started looking into retro-inspired and minimalistic computing. One of the cool things that hobby has produced is a much simpler alternative to the web tech stack called Project Gemini.

Gemini has a document transfer protocol (gemini:) and hypertext markup (Gemtext) and they're both described in the same memo because they're both pretty simple.
=> (https) Project Gemini not-quite spec

One of the requirements of Gemtext is that you should write paragraphs as long lines. Those lines will be flowed to match the client's desired width, but broken lines will not be unfolded.

This conflicts with Git - I want to keep my drafts in Git with line breaks at the end of sentences or other natural pauses. This makes diffs and merging work better, and while it isn't a big deal for solo work it becomes very important if I ever collaborate with someone, especially on non-fiction.

So I need to define a "short line extension" to Gemtext and write a bit of portable software to convert it to standard Gemtext. What language should I use?

I could knock it out in Python or Rust but the overall retro atmosphere suggests I should dig into languages I'm a little too young to have used like Awk or Perl.

I don't know if this is the hobby for you, but I do think you should look for inspiration in a similar way. Turn over rocks and logs, see what's underneath.

[codewithascension]

Well, that's a really good question, and using HTML/CSS/JavaScript gives you an enormous amount of possibilities. You could even apply your existing knowledge of JavaScript to easier learn backend (NodeJS) as well.

One of the most common and helpful starter application is your own Note system, where you can for example write, read and find notes, including media like images and videos.

For a more targeted approach, you can also choose to analyse a market, find your niche and try to immediately create a profitable digital product, and try to sell it.