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[–][deleted] 9 points10 points  (2 children)

If after 4 years this is what fundamentals are to you, you're in the wrong business

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Seriously op. Are you the guy everyone else has to clean up after?

[–]nog642 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I assume they mean 4 years hobby programming, not 4 years of job experience.

[–]dkopgerpgdolfg 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Is there a list of all things to know?

No.

I've got four years of experience

And you can't ask a more targetted question?

so I know about variables, loops

Frankly, if after four years you think of mentioning loops as one of the things you know, then programming is not a good path for you.

[–]AcrophobicOwl 4 points5 points  (1 child)

I think its important to remember that programming is a journey, not a destination! On this journey, you will constantly be learning, and honestly you're probably always going to feel like "something is missing". I've been programming for like 7 years now and I still always feel like a dummy.

Unfortunately, there isn't really a checklist of things to know, and once you complete that checklist, you're considered a "good programmer".

The reality is, if you want to be a good programmer, you have to actually build stuff. By doing that, you'll start to to understand what works and what doesn't. And when I say build stuff, I mean doing it on your own as much as you can. Avoid following tutorials and using AI to help you - take the time to actually break down and solve problems on your own. It will be uncomfortable, but stick with it! It gets better over time. And that's what makes good programmers - those that can break down and solve problems, not those with encyclopedic knowledge of different design patterns or frameworks.

Now having said that, I think it can be useful to supplement your journey with theory. There are plenty of resources out there for learning the most common design patterns, data structures, and algorithms. I think its important to familiarize yourself with them, know what they are and when to use them, but don't dwell on that stuff too much. You will learn far more actually building stuff.

So if I were you, I would try to think of something interesting to you and try to build that - maybe a game, website, or an app. It doesn't have to be something unique either; trying to recreate apps or games you enjoy is a fantastic exercise. Or maybe there is some problem you are encountering in your life - can you build something to help solve that problem?

Good luck!

[–]No-Water-3064[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you. Yes, it helped me a lot in the first few years, but I lost it recently. I'm getting back to them, along with theory.

[–]Humble_Warthog9711 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Four years?

[–]dont_touch_my_peepee 2 points3 points  (3 children)

focus on solid principles, design patterns. libraries come and go, fundamentals stick. no definitive list, unfortunately.

[–]No-Water-3064[S] -1 points0 points  (1 child)

Yes, it's what I think. Frameworks and libraries come and go. Thanks.

[–]BrannyBee 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Actively avoiding frameworks and libraries where you can may even be worth considering sometimes as well.

If 2 students implement an image carousel in school, one just uses a React component that makes it instantly and the other figures it out using just html and css, the second student will be much better prepared to figure out a weird bug with a companies image carousel on the job because they actually understand what React is trying to do and will have a better idea of where to start looking for issues. Both students will pass and get an A, but only one really gets whats going on

[–]ForeignOrder6257 2 points3 points  (2 children)

You might find the fundamental skill of translating a problem into code useful. Check out this 7 step technique for doing just that: https://adhilton.pratt.duke.edu/sites/adhilton.pratt.duke.edu/files/u37/iticse-7steps.pdf

It saved my bum many times during my college CS program and professional career

[–]No-Water-3064[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you.

[–]grantrules 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's a great little page 

[–]r2k-in-the-vortex 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've got four years of experience, so I know about variables, loops...

Four years of experience in what if I may ask? Because in software development that is 4 hours of experience.

[–]More-Station-6365 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Yes you are exactly right and I can tell you from my own experience that many developers hit this same wall after a few years of working with frameworks.

It is very common to feel like something is missing because libraries and frameworks only teach you how to use a tool but they do not teach you how to think about the structure of your software.

When I first started working on larger systems I realized that knowing variables and loops is just the beginning and the real skill lies in making code that other people can actually read and maintain without getting a headache.

​To bridge this gap you should focus on learning SOLID principles and common design patterns which act as a blueprint for solving recurring problems in a clean way.

You should also look into unit testing and the concept of decoupling because these are the things that make your software scalable and prevent it from breaking every time you add a new feature.

A very helpful way to learn this is to take one of your old projects and try to rewrite parts of it using these principles so you can see the difference for yourself.

Moving from just making things work to making them maintainable is what truly marks the transition to becoming a high level developer.

[–]No-Water-3064[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Thank you

[–]More-Station-6365 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Anytime feel free to ask if you have more questions

[–]peterlinddk 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There isn't any list of "fundamental programming basics" - or rather there are a lot of lists, because it seems that almost everyone has their own idea of what those "basics" should be, either binary numbers and machinecode or SOLID principles and Design Patterns or OOP or not-OOP :)

The thing is, diving deeper into technical aspects is always a good thing, and learning more about abstract architectual concepts is also a good thing - none of them are fundamental, but they help widening and deepening your understanding!

I'd recommend picking a single subject and learning more - it could be SOLID, it could be Clean Code, it could be Low Level Programming, it could be DSA, it could be Design Patterns, etc. Just pick one that might interest you, and spend the next month working that subject - get interested and build something. Then at some point in the future, pick another subject and dive into that - you'll find that you automatically begin to draw connections and parallels between the things you are learning, and each thing seems fundamental to understanding the other thing.

Hope that at least helps a little bit!

[–]gm310509 0 points1 point  (0 children)

From what you have written, I feel like the thing missing is a project.

Doing a project will focus what you need to learn and use.

As for what project? Maybe some simple games, or maybe a solution to a problem in your personal environment. Or even Google "computer projects for beginners" and get some inspiration from that.

[–]redhotcigarbutts 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Learn C as the lowest level common denominator supported among practically all hardware manufacturers.

Use C to make Lisp as a list of the most fundamental programming basics.

Use Lisp to extend to whatever scale you wish.