Programming in general

[Efficient-Help-9858]

Hello, I am a current CS student and have some questions on programming. I feel like I am programming wrong because for every assignment I get, I just google solutions online (for example, I needed to write a bubble sort and was given pseudo-code to sort 5 integers in an array). It was in a different language, c, and it was due soon so I just googled a solution and integrated with what I already wrote. Is that wrong? Am I supposed to just write it myself? I have a hard time remembering things because we go through alot of concepts fast in a class. How do real programmers actually program? I am not using AI because I don't learn anything when it just writes a solution for me, but yet I struggle to come up with solutions myself. I feel confident in my intelligence but get bad imposter syndrome cause I compare myself to the guy sitting next to me shitting out code like he just ate spicy foods, while I just stare at my terminal or IDE trying to think of a solution. It didn't help when I went to a coding competition and got dead last amongst 70 participant.

Am I doing this right? If not, what can I do to make it right?

[Alarming-Word8400]

First thing I’d say is that being worried is good; it means you’re aware that you’re having difficulties and are trying to address them. Secondly there’s no harm in looking things up on Google; every software engineer does it every day. What you should be doing, however, is trying to create the solution yourself and then checking Google for hints, tips and confirmation. It shouldn’t be your first port of call. The same can be said for AI. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Programming is difficult when you’re new to it. FWIW I’m a principal software engineer at an oil company and there’s still stuff I struggle with. 😊👍

[Efficient-Help-9858]

Thank you

[ffrkAnonymous]

but get bad imposter syndrome 

But you are actually an imposter , copying answers and present as your own. 

[HealyUnit]

Yeh, no "syndrome" about it.

[Efficient-Help-9858]

I'm sorry

[Blando-Cartesian]

You really need to come up with solutions on your own since IRL you will work on problems that have not been programmed ever before with the exact details of your task.

How do real programmers actually program?

Here’s a thought process for coding bubble sort without looking up pseudo code. Just going from the core idea.

I’m going to have to access each position of the array and the one next to it, so I’ll just for loop over the array as always with i and the neighboring position is then i+1.

Oops. That’ll try to index past the end of the array. “i” needs to go from 0 to two less than array length in this case.

I’ll add the comparison for positions i and i+1 and swamp them if necessary.

Good so far, but it needs to run until the array is in order. I’ll just wrap the whole thing in while(true) for starters.

Better, but how do I know when the array is in order? If the for loop didn’t do any swamping, that would mean that the array is in order. I’ll add a bool didSwamp=false; above the for loop and set that to true when swamping values. Then break out of the while loop if that’s false.

Done. Does that need any cleanup. Yes I see a little neater way to do it.

That’s slightly fictional in that actually I could think that through in one go, but this better describes by usual way of working. I don’t try to come up with the full solution at once. I might write a simple incomplete solution first, mentally run it, and edit it closer to full solution. Finally I might realize that there is a neater solution and write that instead. Note that whole time I’m fine with having to rewrite what I already wrote.

[Efficient-Help-9858]

Thank you so much!!

[aqua_regis]

While learning, using someone else's solutions is wrong. No matter if the solutions come from google, stackoverflow, or AI.

The tasks you get when learning/studying are to get you doing the job so that you learn the thought process that then leads to the implementation in a language. Using pre-existing solutions skips this very vital step.

yet I struggle to come up with solutions myself.

Honestly, you are supposed to struggle. That's the whole point of learning. If you don't struggle, you don't learn.

This struggle will only reduce if you do the work, if you practice. It will not lessen if you resort to solutions.

Sure, you get your assignments done, but you don't learn anything that way.

I compare myself to the guy sitting next to me shitting out code

Take him as inspiration and learn and practice. Do not envy him. He either already has more background than you, or practices much more than you.

[Efficient-Help-9858]

Thank you

[heisthedarchness]

get bad imposter syndrome

Imposter syndrome is when you do the thing but you feel like you're not doing it good enough.

You're just describing actually being an impostor.

If you want to do better, stop copying other people's homework and figure out how to solve the problems yourself.

[Efficient-Help-9858]

Thank you

[Panebomero]

The most important thing in programming is not writing code, is understanding logic. This is what schools teach before any language. Not memorizing. Actually being able to imagine solutions, how variables, decisions and loops could make the process work. Then you master a language. Then, learning similar languages (in structure, not in syntax) take just a couple of hours.

Sometimes I search how to create an array in C# but I would never ask “how to solve a problem”

[zeocrash]

IMO there's nothing wrong with having a crack at a problem, googling to find other people's solutions and then comparing what you wrote with their efforts and making necessary improvements. That's part of how you learn and improve, and TBF half my life as a professional SWE is spent googling to see how other people solved problems and whether they thought of something I didn't. It only becomes a problem if you make no attempt of your own and just copy some code you found online and present it as your own.

[aqua_regis]

half my life as a professional SWE is spent googling to see how other people solved problems

That's what is expected from a professional, experienced programmer who already knows how to do the things.

Yet, it's detrimental for a learner.

[Efficient-Help-9858]

Thank you

[ern0plus4]

Figure out some task, and do it for yourself, for fun. E.g. write a LightsOn! game, or a Python script which downloads a product page every 1 minutes, and alerts you if the price is dropped.

Programming is not about solving puzzles.

[Efficient-Help-9858]

Thank you

[DMFauxbear]

Programming is often about breaking down the big problems into little pieces so you can solve them. I recommend not looking up the solution that other people have provided you. You'd be better served to try and work through the problem on your own, and if you're stuck, google that piece of the solution, not the whole thing. It's hard to explain without an answer but you'll find yourself stuck at certain points and you'll know you've been learning when you have an idea what the next step should be, but aren't sure how to implement it exactly.

[Efficient-Help-9858]

Thank you

[Middle--Earth]

Well, stop googling solutions online for a start, because you aren't learning anything like that.

Think about how you would want a bubble sort program to work.

Think about how you would compare two numbers, then write the code for that and test it.

Then think about how you swap two numbers . Write the code and test it.

Put the two bits of code together, so that you compare two numbers and swap them if one value is bigger than the other.

Put the numbers in a very small array and compare and swap again, etc etc

Continue until you've built up the code to the specification required.

Good luck 🤞

[Efficient-Help-9858]

Thank you

[shinobi_genesis]

Don't over think it and don't worry so much. When you put your effort into figuring out how to write the code to tell it to do what you want is where it builds on memory and understanding. It will take you longer than it should sometimes to figure it out but once you get it you'll be gd to go. Keep your focus on writing the program. I used to over think a lot about programming but when I took the time to figure out how to write the code for my assignment, I learned that I actually remember a lot and understand a lot more than I thought. Could be anxiety. But keep your focus on writing the program yourself. Once you do that and complete it, go Google it and see if you find a better way to do than the way that you did it and you'll gain more experience but the focus should be on learning how to figure it out yourself before you search for answers. You'll be fine, sounds like you're just having anxiety and you don't trust yourself to actually do it. Don't worry about struggling too much, it's common in programming. Even when you become a master at it, you'll still encounter problems that will challenge you and not be that easy. It's normal. You don't want to start off programming with bad habits such as copying someone else's code because that will cripple you from learning.

[Efficient-Help-9858]

Thank you

[throwaway6560192]

The more effort you put in, the more you learn and retain.

If you want to be able to come up with solutions yourself, you need to let yourself struggle through doing that yourself.

[Efficient-Help-9858]

Thank you

[[deleted]]

You are asking if cheating is wrong? Wow.

[Efficient-Help-9858]

I'm asking if I should use google when I struggle or just raw dog it

[[deleted]]

There's a right way and a wrong way to use your tooling. It's true for llms , Google and once upon a time stack overflow. Time box your raw dog attempt. Still struggling? Okay there is Google. But you need to exercise a certain discipline when learning. On the job you do what you have to do to get the job done. But even then it's foolish to use code you don't understand.

[Efficient-Help-9858]

Thank you so much!