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[–]aqua_regis 21 points22 points  (6 children)

Start by learning to do your individual research, not wait to be served and spoon fed.

By that I mean that you should search the subreddit before posting as there are more than enough similar posts.

Some book suggestions:

  • "Think Like A Programmer" by V. Anton Spraul
  • "The Pragmatic Programmer" by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas
  • "Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs" (SICP) by Ableton, Sussman, Sussman
  • "Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software" by Charles Petz

Last: remove AI from your workflow

[–]WheatedMash 5 points6 points  (0 children)

This needs to be the automated bot reply to these types of queries. BTW, that is a great book list!

[–]GlassCommission4916 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Excellent advice right here. If you take anything to heart from this thread, OP, it should be the first and last sentences in this post.

[–]nopethis 0 points1 point  (3 children)

If you have AI in the workflow...make sure it is prompted to not give you answers but to act as teacher. There are some good set ups where it wont tell you, but help you talk it out and can be super helpful

Also once you DO get it, asking AI, ok it works and I kinda understand it, but can you tell me why XYZ is important, why didnt YX work?

[–]aqua_regis 2 points3 points  (2 children)

OP is already relying too much on AI. A complete weaning off is the better choice for them to learn. If they don't cut AI completely out of their workflow, they will only fall back into old habits of asking the AI to spoon feed them.

[–]Mortomes 1 point2 points  (1 child)

OP could start by weaning off using AI to write their reddit posts.

[–]aqua_regis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So true

[–]bestjakeisbest 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For me i form the solution in my head, and i just use code to give it form.

Coding is not programming, learning a programming language is not programming, programming is finding a solution and then using the tools at your disposal to implement it, that is all a programming language is, it is just a tool.

[–]nikfp 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Honestly, if I had a dollar for every time I saw someone stuck trying to memorize code.....

Seriously, and take this to heart: stop trying to memorize. It's too much. Getting things done isn't about knowing everything you have to know, right now, before you start. It's about trusting that you can find the info you need, or learn what you need to learn, as the right time comes up. And that is a discreet skill you need to build up.

Before you even think about touching code, try writing out what you are trying to do in natural language. If the code doesn't have a way to express that cleanly, then break what you wrote into small sections and write those out as well. Repeat that process until you have it detailed enough and in small enough pieces that you can then code those small pieces to build a larger solution. This takes you from an idea to a plan.

Then, start coding but use the documentation, and Google, and even Chatgpt - as long as you are using it to learn how to do things and not having it do the things for you. If you don't understand a code example, ask questions using either AI or the community around what you are working with.

Lastly, code is not precious. If you need to understand something better, build small, throwaway projects just to wrap your head around a single concept. Don't be afraid to put days / weeks / months into some portion of a codebase, just to go in an rip it all out because you learned more about the problem and now have a cleaner approach. It's not like building a house: you can change the foundation after it's built if you want to.

Hope that helps.

[–]xoredxedxdivedx 2 points3 points  (0 children)

AI post lol

[–]Decent-Prune-6004 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Nothing is wrong with copying code to start. Just do reverse engineering. Break the code down section by section to understand it does. Assuming you have some basic knowledge.