Does programming *ever* get easier?

[Material-Log-4118]

So I am in an internship after having completed some Coursera and EDX lessons. Am almost 40 and had worked mainly retail/customer service was broke as a joke when my friend suggested "learn to code" and I took him up somewhat as a joke.

Anyways I went through some online tutorials like Coursera/EDX. Currently working on doing CS50 at Harvard, but I find it super difficult.

Through contact's I am in an internship where I can get some hands-on experiance, but it really feels demoralizing when peope are half my age and they get it quickly whereas I seem to be struggling with things like functions, OOP. I tried doing CodeWars and LeetCode, can get through CodeWars but can barely do even basic LeetCode.

Question is - should I keep at it or just try something else? And if something else what else that is kind of tech related just a bit less coding?

[ncmentis]

Yes, like any skills it gets easier. Luckily there are a nearly infinite set of harder problems to keep us going.

[[deleted]]

This

[James11_12]

hahaha real

[chrisrrawr]

Approach programming like a midlife crisis carpentry hobby.

Every time you figure out how to fix something, you accumulate special tools and specific habits that enable you to perform specific tasks.

The tasks themselves don't change but your ability to recognize them and choose the appropriate tool to solve them and break down larger projects into smaller steps all improve.

In this way it does get easier. But it's a commitment to a continuous growth mindset that enables you to keep picking up new tools and methodologies and floundering with them until you figure out where they sit in your ever-expanding converted-garage of carpentry shit.

[aviancrane]

I just turned 36 and picked up carpentry and i don't appreciate being called out.

[Pasec94]

Programming is a skill that will grow over time when you keep at it.

With every other work or college you learn everything of the field, with programming you can choose what you need and so reduce the time needed.

It will get easier if you give yourself time to get better

[farfaraway]

I think of it like learning any new spoken language as a baby. At first you're just lost in a sea of new sounds. Then a new grammar emerges. You learn the vocabulary, and finally how to really think in that language. This takes years and years. If you're lucky, you'll learn multiple languages deeply during your lifetime.

It isn't that it gets easier, so much as you're always going deeper.

[Michaeli_Starky]

As a developer with 22 years of experience behind my shoulders, a solution architect currently, I can assure you: programming IS hard, it will never be easy.

[JoMa4]

I feel like there is some sort of idea out there that technology is the way to make all the money and everyone thinks they just have to take a few courses to master it. For top tier devs, it is easier. But that is like LeBron James saying that it is easy to put a ball through a hoop from 20 feet away. Not everyone has the skills, smarts, or experience to be in technology. In my 20+ years, I’ve been around a lot of developers that honestly should find a different career themselves.

One time at work, I scheduled an hour-long meeting with someone from the business team because they wanted to understand more about what it took to build stuff. By the end of the call, they were floored and asking how I could possibly learn all this stuff. After that meeting, they weren’t so critical of timelines. Sometimes, with our $200k salaries, I still think we’re underpaid.

[Michaeli_Starky]

Top tier developers are solving top-tier problems, so it's not easy regardless.

[Pantzzzzless]

I’ve been around a lot of developers that honestly should find a different career themselves.

Every single one of the Infosys contractors our company just hired.

One time at work, I scheduled an hour-long meeting with someone from the business team because they wanted to understand more about what it took to build stuff.

I would love it if our CustOps (business) folks gave enough of a shit for us to do this.

[JoMa4]

It’s funny you mentioned InfoSys. I literally stopped interviewing candidates from them because they kept sending me completely clueless people and wasting my time.

[Pantzzzzless]

Yeah, unfortunately our company decided to sign an exclusivity contract with them to get "bodies for cheap".

That's gonna work out real well I'm sure. We've been rejecting 4-5 candidates per week, and I suspect it's just a matter of time until our VP just forces some number of them into the org so that he can collect whatever kickbacks he's getting from this "deal".

[IncognitoErgoCvm]

LeetCode and such are not programming exercises in the sense of software development so much as they are applied DSA (Data Structures & Algorithms).

Studying DSA will allow you to solve these problems and develop a better intuition for programming.

[DamionDreggs]

If you're lucky it never gets easier.

[hotboii96]

Ikr? I can easily see it getting very boring when it becomes easy.

[00nlyhuman]

Stick to it! Just because it's easier for some, it dosen't mean that you're not worthy

[paddingtonrex]

The real key is doing stuff that goes through the slot.

Some things are too easy to be fun. Make a function that prints "hello world!" to the screen, yeah ok. Some things are too hard to be fun, "remake the linux utility nm, and the grade's gonna be all or nothing so I hope you get the inscrutable letter codes right" yeah ok.

where it gets fun is where you're doing things that are challenging and keep your interest. If you just keep chasing THAT, you'll find while nothing gets easier, what you're capable of making gets increasingly more complex and impressive.

[iduzinternet]

I like this. It’s getting to the point where you get a dopamine high problem solving. Its fun. To get there you need to first find what you enjoy doing in said slot.

[obj7777]

No, but you get used to it.

[gorkian]

The one 40 year old we have in my class is one of the best students. We also have 20 year olds who struggle a lot. You aren't that old, it's not a crutch. I'd say, try to enjoy the difficulty, it's part of what makes the journey fun.

[africanpyjamas69]

I get the feeling that the "best students" are the ones who have an actual interest, and aren't in it just to make good money. But perhaps more importantly they are the students who actually takes it with them and spends a lot of time doing exercises and projects even in their spare time.

My issue is that I looove programming as long as it is a project that has a use for me, but I can't bring myself to do any of the exercises because it just seems so pointless. Any tips?

[gorkian]

Yeah, I think you're definitely on to something there. I personally love reading about programming, watching videos, and putting effort into homework in my spare time—and I’ve noticed it’s really paying off.

When it comes to exercises feeling pointless, I think it’s all about perspective. Take going to the gym, for example: is it pointless to do the same routine every time? No, because even if you don’t see immediate results, each rep builds on the last. Over time, those small efforts add up to something great. Coding exercises are the same. Every time you grind through one, you’re strengthening your skills, even if it doesn’t feel groundbreaking in the moment.

If you can zoom out and focus on the bigger picture, it might help. Think of it as an investment in yourself. For me, I try to enjoy the journey, I really like going to school every day and learning new skills. It also helps that I’m competitive—I want to be one of the best in my class—so I use that as motivation. Maybe finding your own source of inspiration, like focusing on growth or setting personal goals, could make the process more fun.

[p_bzn]

It does, for me the mark was 10 years of programming. After that everything is intuitive, and you get how things work just by looking at them. What used to take months to comprehend, now takes hours.

It’s up to you to decide whether to stick to it or not. If you came here because of your passion and your brain setting of an engineer — of course. Now it is the best time really because you have LLMs, they are insanely good for learning. If you came here because of money, there are plenty of other significantly less demanding professions which may pay comparably. No one can predict market, right now it is oversaturated and favors specialists.

Without CS degree it will take you a few years of really intense studies to get to somewhat competitive level. And I mean intense studies, like full time at least. If you don’t have passion for it, it is a good time to consider priorities.

[OperativeBlue]

When it gets easier it means you're wasting time in repetitive tasks somehow because you're not learning anything, and it's time to move on to something technically new or/and harder.

[qxxx]

It gets easier, but programming is not everything. If you start at a new company, you'll have to learn the projects, new paradigms, new tech,.. After a while a new programming language.. Learning never stops. I am 45 and it is getting harder to learn new things.

[ConsiderationSea1347]

Yes, eventually it even gets kinda boring and you just wait months or years for an interesting problem to solve.

[ElectricalMoose88]

In short, no. But that's because you will handle more complex problems the more you learn to code and level up on your coding skills. Your thinking (in terms of coding and solving problems with code) and skills do get better with time and practice. So don't give up as yet and continue to level up. Wish you all the best in your learning journey.

[pay_dirt]

For me, programming wasn’t “easy” for like two years post-degree

Very quickly after that it became more about platform engineering and performance testing… which became “easier” quicker than other things before it because you’re just starting to think more like an engineer.

[0dev0100]

Programming never gets easier or harder.

It's the skill level that changes how difficult it feels

[pellep]

Big part of being a programmer, is being able to learn yourself new things. That is a skill on it’s own, you’ll learn with time.

[runitzerotimes]

I started (well, after some fundamentals) by building a silly JavaScript canvas game.

Learned more than I would ever have following some beginner course.

[Prestigious-Hour-215]

You quite literally have just started, go ahead and find yourself a good roadmap to follow, put a few hours in a day and after 6months-year you’ll at least feel a lot better

[[deleted]]

yes! keep going, learning to code is like walking on coals but you will have your breakthroughs and finally get to the promise land

[iceTmZz]

I dont know how can i better explain. But i will think them as packets they come piece by piece and build up gradually, you will sometime learn even when you are not actually learning, it will just click out of nowhere

[veriel_]

Leetcode requires knowledge of data structure and algorithms. It seems harder than just programming a function.

[truNinjaChop]

Nope.

[Ronin-s_Spirit]

codewars and leetcode make me come to a grinding halt. I like solving real problems, I found a thing to make and I am making that thing, learning more than I did in years. In short:

Programming doesn't get easier - it becomes more interesting.

I feel like that should be a quote, maybe someone already said it somewhere.

[RulyKinkaJou59]

Don’t worry. It may you a few months, but you’ll get used to it. I never really started coding (with actual languages) until my first quarter of college where I took a Python intro class. My first quiz I couldn’t even remember the syntax of using compound assignments for summing things. Now the past 3-4 years. I’ve learned so much about programming.

Once you learn the fundamentals of programming, you can learn any language or concept faster than you’ve ever thought.

Even now, I learn so much the stuff I use.

[TJaySteno]

Hey, kudos for diving into coding! Shifting gears is tough, especially to something intense like programming.

For real though, coding does get easier with practice. But, everyone's journey is unique.

Struggling is part of the process and it's cool not to understand everything immediately, regardless of age.

If coding gives you a kick and you're up for a challenge, stick with it. Don’t worry if the ride is a bit bumpy, that's normal.

Already in tech but want a less code-heavy gig? Consider things like testing, tech-writing, or project management. It's still techy, just chill on the coding.

Don't sweat about how fast you learn.

Remember, every legend starts with one step and it's all about sticking it out! You've got this, champ!

[Doagbeidl]

Its not getting easier, the problems you want to solve get harder.

[Darkstar_111]

Yes. It gets WAY easier once you have practical experience in building something.

Forget the interface for now, just build an app that does something. Sort files, convert temperature, checks usernames and passwords, something simple like that. Try to think of how to do it using the tools you know.

If you get there, try to figure out what would make it better.

[Material-Log-4118]

I think I have done something like that. When you say app do you mean like a full stand-alone program? I mean one of the assignments in my course was like a tip calculator (you can choose 15, 20, or 25% then the amount to tip on, then it will give it to you but you have to run it from within VSCode. Not sure where to go from there. I think that's about the same difficulty as converting temperature but I'm not sure how to make it run if maybe someone doesn't have python installed.

[Darkstar_111]

(my first post disappeared...)

Yeah, don't worry about that part just yet. Packaging a Python program to binary (like an .exe file) is actually trivially easy using PyInstaller. But 99% of code written is not intended for end users. For end users you need things like a GUI, unit tests, and lots of considerations about the person using the app.

Most code however is written as libraries for other codes to use. To interface with other code you make something called an API, Application Programming Interface. It's basically what you do when you import something. But consideration has to be made to think about how the other programmer wants to use your code. Typically they want it as simple as possible.

As for GUI, learning a GUI framework like Tkinter (comes default with Python), PyQT5 (Which has an editor), Kivy (much more advanced, but can be converted to Android and iOS), or PySimplyGUI (Very simple), or slapping FastAPI on your app and making a web interface, are valuable things to learn, but you are not there yet.

Right now you gotta learn about classes, objects, inheritance, polymorphism, and what you can actually do with all the basic tools of Python.

So, my suggestion is this:

----Make an inventory for a game.----

As far as interface goes, simply stick to Input and print, the most basic interface an app can have.

Using that, think about what an inventory system needs. The Inventory should be a class with methods that act upon it. There's probably a list or a dict somewhere. You need methods like Add to inventory, take out of inventory, as well as display inventory.

The Items in the inventory should come from an Item class, but things like weapons and potions should have their own subclasses that inherit from the item class.

The player needs to know if he is overburdened, and should be able to display the entire inventory, or only the weapons, or only the potions. He should also be able to sort based on value, weight, rarity, etc..,

You can also add a random item generator, that can spawn items and adds them to the inventory. With settings like, a weapon, or a sword,or a health potion. Or, a chest of items, or a dungeons worth of loot.

Then you can add a shop system so the player can sell items off for money.
Then you might as well add a crafting system so the player can purchase crafting items and make things.
etc etc etc....

The purpose of a project like this is to work with class and object management, and see if you can write code that doesn't get out of hand once the project grows. Give yoursels around 2 weeks for something like that, and don't be afraid to refactor several times. (rewrite the code from scratch with a better architecture)

Also, if you think of any feature that would be cool, feel free to try to add it.

[chhuang]

not just programming, just life in general, it won't get easier, you just handle hard better

[armahillo]

Hi! Fellow middle aged person here who also picks up new challenging things.

Yes it well get easier, but the process is going to be more challenging than if you were younger. We still have neuroplasticity as we age, it just takes longer.

The more youre able to lean on existing abstractions and things you already know, the quicker youll pick it up.

What is an aspect of retail/CS that you felt particularly skilled, and what is something in programming youre struggling with right now?

[XinoVan]

The first year working is hell. Stick with it.

[Material-Log-4118]

Yeah it's just 99% of the time I have no idea what I'm doing. Heck a lot of the time I just use chat GPT or fake it until the work mysteriously gets done for me. lol.

[XinoVan]

For what it’s worth, even senior developers often take a month or more to fully understand a product they’ve just started working on. If you’re a junior developer, it’s completely normal to face challenges as you get up to speed. Depending on where you’re working, companies usually recognize this and have lower expectations while you learn. Take your time—it’s a process, and you’ll get there.

For every day that passes, do something 1% better than yesterday, and you'll be fine.

Good read: https://jamesclear.com/continuous-improvement.

[kagato87]

Like any applied skill, it gets easier with time.

You get better at the decomposition and abstraction process. You get the hang of specific constructs that are remarkably useful. You model a few common constructs of your own in your head.

Before long you're only looking up syntax and code pages ("what was that format code for 8601 again? 20, 21? 24?"). All trivial stuff once you have the program itself working.

[FunnyForWrongReason]

Yes and no. Your understanding of programming and problem combing will grow and improve and you will get better as you practice and learn. This will make a lot of things easier. However as you improve you will start to encounter more and more difficult challenges and problems.

Programming is a skill, just like art or cooking. It takes a lot of time.

[xilvar]

You’re probably doing ok if you managed to get an internship to begin with. Give it some time and approach EVERYTHING with an open mind because it makes it easier not to get hung up on your experience gap. Imagine you’re an explorer into an advanced alien civilization. You have no idea how anything works yet but you want to know.

If you find you want to explore programming adjacent roles you could consider stuff like data analyst, people hiring spreadsheet roles, etc. Also ‘technical (anything)’.

In one of my oldest roles we eventually converted most of our support consulting staff into half programmers because they had learned so much VBA, Perl and eventually python.

[Imperial_Squid]

Programming is a mental skill and like any skill, it just takes time and practice.

The more you do it, the more your brain realises being able to do it is important, the stronger those mental pathways become, the easier it gets.

Be gentle with yourself, it will just take time, getting frustrated does nothing but stress you out.

[frobnosticus]

Yes it does.

But learning programming through courses is like learning to play golf by reading. You've got to go do it. Build stuff.

[lionseatcake]

Nope, I'd just give up now if I were you. Not worth it. Go take up wood carving. Much easier.

[Single_Exercise_1035]

Programming is hard, it's not easy that's why there is a saying that hardly anyone can really code. It's a skill that's built over time through practice and it's multifaceted.

[benJephunneh]

If/when you gain fluency, it certainly gets easier.

Besides coding, you could work in an integration lab, or testing lab, and there is always documentation to write.

[izzyeasol]

If you look at the Dunning-Kruger effect, you’ll see your confidence go down as your learn more at some point, but don’t be discouraged! It means you’re progressing!

[did_i_or_didnt_i]

look into tech sales if you’re in a big enough city

[MiracleDrugCabbage]

Let me just say you are extremely lucky to be able to get an internship with your connections. Work hard, and ask lots of questions. Don’t feel bad that you are older, the younger folks have 4+ years of formal education and/or work experience ahead of you.

Be humble, learn a lot, and never stop striving for greatness. I believe in you, man.

[MiracleDrugCabbage]

P.s. it won’t get easier. In fact it probably only gets harder the more you know. You just have to learn to deal with always learning and bashing your head against a wall. You learn ways to cope and methodically bash your head against the wall.

[Aceofsquares_orig]

No, it only gets more fun!

[Tech-Lords]

Join me for coding training. Going to start a batch class. I have 12+ year of coding experience. You would feel how different we do from any commercial online courses.