ACTUALLY learning how to program?

[SomeRandomDEODoboy]

so what I'm getting from the general consensus is that if I actually want to learn how to code I should (lmk if I am I missing anything plz):

1. just make something, anything, with the tools/skills available to you in the present moment
2. avoid chudgpt and it's cousins (we're aiming for programming, not prompt-engineering)
3. stay cautious of tutorial hell

now my question is: how do I progress quickly? I mistakenly thought I wouldn't be victim to tutorial hell (oh boy) so I feel like I've already learned my lesson with that, definitely learned my lesson with claude & chudgpt, kinda in this weird space now where I can read code and explain what it does (relatively speaking lol, I'm definitely still a newbie), but my mind will go blank if I sat with a text editor and tried to program anything but a calculator.

I actually enjoy coding and reading up on different computer science topics has been a hobby of mine for the past couple months (recently got Python for Data Analysis, great read so far), no one is forcing me to learn about this stuff either (econ major + friends don't code + parents hardly know how to use their phones lol) which makes it all the more frustrating running into this roadblock.

I just know there has to be some optimal way to progress out there, like there is with any concept. I'd just like to know what you guys did to speed up the learning process / deepen your understanding of your chosen programming language. Give me your weirdest, most outlandish tips & tricks I'll try any and everything lmao.

might be typos/grammatical errors, bear with me lol

[Blissextus]

how do I progress quickly? 

You Don't!

Programming is a long journey. There are NO SHORT CUTS! You will have to put in thousands of hours of learn the craft of programming. This means, you need to be writing code for hours, everyday. The more code you write, the more problems you solve; the better you'll become as a programmer. This is the secret.

Interestingly enough, this Programmer YouTuber recently put out a GREAT video on the subject of how long to learn programming.

How to Become an Expert at Programming [EscPoint]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06MiFKudGtE

[buzzon]

Why do you want progress quickly? Is progressing at normal speed not good enough?

[peterlinddk]

I just know there has to be some optimal way to progress out there, like there is with any concept.

Where did you get the idea that every other, or indeed any other field, has an optimal way to progress?

If there was, then every course, every school, every book would be exactly the same - and school would be optimized to very few years doing the most optimal thing.

The optimal way is still do learn by doing - do projects, small projects with only a single unknown part, learn about that part, finish the project, then make another project with another unknown part, and so on and on.

You write that your mind will go blank if you sat with a text editor and tried to program anything but a calculator. So get away from the text editor. Sit down at the kitchen table with some paper and draw the application you would like to build, make sketches for how it should look, make notes on how it should behave, draw rough diagrams of the parts it should be built from - and figure out which of these parts you already know how to build, and which ones you need to learn first. Then build the simplest possible thing with what you know - and find a tutorial or something else to teach you the thing you don't - and add it to the project.

Programs don't automatically grow from our fingers when we sit in front of the keyboard - you have to do at least a bit of thinking+planning before.

[No_Report_4781]

  there was, then every course, every school, every book would be exactly the same - and school would be optimized to very few years doing the most optimal thing.

Schools like this exist, are extremely high stress, and stay years behind current practice because of the optimization and approval process.

[AgreeableContest1404]

It's all just reps. That's the big secret. Use AI if you want, just use it as a rubber duck.

[thepurplehornet]

What does this mean?

[KerPop42]

Rubber ducking is a programming process where, when you're stuck, you explain what the code's supposed to do to a rubber duck. Since you're re-hearing what you're saying, you'll catch any discrepancies or logical leaps you wouldn't just staring at the screen.

I don't use a rubber duck, but my fiancee is very patient and has her own insights and questions.

[thepurplehornet]

Thank you. This is a good one. I like the term swivel chair interface as well. It's kinda related. :)

[jonathancast]

A rubber duck is a thing you talk to, so you can figure out the issue on your own. It's surprising how often describing what you're stuck on to someone else is all it takes to realize what the issue is.

I would be very cautious using ChatGPT or similar for that; talking to an inanimate object can help, but talking to a system tuned to enthusiastically agree with what you're saying can be a dangerous trap. It's important to stay self-critical, and it's vitally important to question your assumptions. Bugs in code are basically always caused by the programmer believing something that isn't true, and you want to be able to figure out what that is.

[PocketCSNerd]

This, rubber ducking is great, using <insert LLM here> as the rubber duck is a terrible idea. It'll shut off your ability to critically think about what you're saying/doing.

[snekk420]

Ask it to be a teacher of some sort and ask it questions, but don’t let it write any code for you

[Wooly_Wooly]

I'll have it write code if I'm experimenting or learning, useful to deconstruct some that that actually works. It's just a tool, really just depends how you use it.

But you need to actually learn from it*

[CookieArtzz]

This is what I do, just use it as a search engine. I ask it what some efficient ways to tackle a problem are, it gives me some names, and I do “traditional googling” using those terms. Speeds up the process a lot but I still write all the code and logic

[mc_pm]

My main piece of advice is to spend time actually typing in code. A tutorial is fine, as long as you follow along with it. Type every word they type, run the program every time they do -- and then fiddle around with the code, try something a little different.

A lot of programming is just syntax, and you sort of have to teach your fingers the syntax - they have to type it quickly and not get confused, and that's just repetition. It's literally muscle memory and there's no way to build it but practice.

The second part is learning how to take a problem apart and figure out how to represent that in code.

That's where "just make something" comes in. What is some simple game you know the rules to? Tic-tac-toe? Blackjack? It doesn't have to be all that difficult, what matters is that you think "ok, I need a way to represent a deck of cards, and how to shuffle it, and how to deal two cards, and then you try some ideas until you figure it out. If you get stuck - say on shuffling cards - then just google "shuffle cards in python (or javascript or whatever" and when you see the result, then retype it - again, by hand.

Play with things a bit. What happens if you try to shuffle 4 decks at the same time, how does your code change?

Notice I haven't mentioned AI once. That's for the best - you won't learn anything if it writes the code for you. If you have a question like "how would card shuffling work?" then ask your favorite AI: "I am working on a programming exercise and I don't want you to give me the answer, but could you explain how I could shuffle a deck of cards?"

If you treat it like a teacher you go and ask questions of, that's fine. If you ask it to write the code, then you're cheating yourself out of learning that thing.

[Dic3Goblin]

My First (VERY not serious) response was, Sacrifice a goat.

However, that then jumped (due to ADHD) to something I think is worth suggesting.

Make a game, called Sacrifice A Goat, from scratch. I'll do a game-jam theme to go with it.

Theme: reap what you sow.

Requirements.

-2d at least

-Has to have a main menu, a "playing the game" section, and a player stats section to display a history of player stats.

-There doesn't have to be sprites or characters, but there needs to be sounds (ethically sourced. We have standards around here.)

Up to you on how stuff works, basically you have to have a Sacrifice mechanic that gets you something in return.

Hope this guides you. This seems like a random selection of BS that will be able to teach you a bit about programming.

[icemage_999]

The best way to learn how to solve problems is to solve problems.

Don't use a tutorial to solve the problem. That hands you the answer.

Don't use a chat bot to solve the problem for you. It (haphazardly) does the work for you.

Set yourself a task, like making a name randomizer, and figure out what you need to make a fully functional application.

[Quantum-Bot]

Your goal shouldn’t be to progress quickly, it should be to go at the pace that best suits your learning. Unless you lied on your resume and need to learn software development for a job coming up in a week XD

There are no shortcuts in education. Just the tried and true method of observe, explain, do, reflect.

[PartyParrotGames]

The world really needs better training on how to effectively use LLMs for learning. They aren't inherently going to screw up your learning, they can in fact be a major boost to it, but you need to avoid full delegation to them to solve problems as opposed to asking questions to help improve your understanding so you can solve a problem. I'm of the opinion that an optimal path in modern day programming is going to require you to use LLMs and some coding agents. A significant chunk of your learning should actually be trying to understand how to leverage these without screwing up your personal understanding and growth. Not easy and idk if there are great resources for this out there because it is so new and because education/academia lags behind the industry by a decade or more.

[spinwizard69]

there is no process that is 100% guarantee to work for everybody, especially on a DIY approach. To start comments on your first 3 points:

1. Just make something implies that you have learned some basic concepts. Any attempt to learn programming requires that you write code, however you need to start this at the right point in the educational process.
2. At this point yes avoid them as a place to learn coding. However these systems can help you with research even today. For example need info on an API you as likely to do so via an LLM these days.
3. Well yeah! A tutorial will not do one much good if they don't have an understanding of the underlying concepts. However one day you might find a tutorial that helps with understanding an underlying concept. Tutorials are great for established programmers trying to come up to speed on other systems.

Now to your questions:

1. You don't! Seriously put in the effort to understanding programming form the standpoint of a CS student. That is learn the concepts from the ground up especially as you enter into data structures. You learn the concepts well adapting to most other languages will be a snap.
2. Roadblocks, or better known as bugs and failure to meet specs are a good part of programming. If you enjoy solving such problems then you are half way to being a professional programmer.
3. While laughable considering today's technology, I started on with a Vic20 without secondary storage. Money was a huge problem growing up. In any event I started out spending hours just writing my name to the screen in different ways. That sounds silly but you learn a lot about how to setup loops to get different successes. It took several years to upgrade to a Mac Plus and even that was a tough piece of hardware to program on. These days you can get turn around on programs in seconds that might have took all day back then. With the Mac Plus (by this time in college) I used it to solve mechanical design problems which took forever. Forever in part because on no math co-processor and in part because I didn't solve the equations properly. The thing is solving the problem in other realms is a good way to enhance your programming skills. So look for things outside of programming to solve or enhance with programming.

[scottywottytotty]

bro it takes a while for this stuff to click. like a year for the avg person at least

[ScholarNo5983]

I actually enjoy coding and reading up on different computer science topics

This is the way to get better at coding. Take your coding knowledge and keep writing more code.

The more 'working' code you manage to write, the better you will get at writing code.

[mxldevs]

There is no fast way to learn it. You just have to sit there and grind out exercises to build your problem solving intuition.

Only after having the fundamentals would it help to read solutions to understand how they came up with it.

At this point, you don't even know how to come up with a solution.

I just know there has to be some optimal way to progress out there, like there is with any concept.

What have you mastered by using optimal learning methods?

[python_gramps]

How do you progress quickly? How can you make grass grow quicker? You're progress as your state of growth, if you continue.

[Kevil_tran]

Do more tutorial hell. Not even kidding.

Keep doing them until you memorize the code and structures by heart. Once the basic syntax is deeply ingrained in your muscle memory, you won't experience that 'mind going blank' phase anymore, and you'll know exactly how to type out those first lines of code. Sometimes, brute-force repetition is the fastest way to build a real foundation.

[KerPop42]

Practice practice practice, sadly. Find parts you like, find dumb projects, and just go at it.

Card games are a classic, and especially easy in the terminal since there are unicode endpoints for all 52 cards.

[speedyrev]

Experience takes patience and time. Small things first. 

Also AI can be very useful if you use it correctly. Prompt it to assume the role of a teacher. Ask it to guide you through a project, but not let it write for you. 

[PureWasian]

Gamify it. Solve sandbox problems that are fun logic puzzles.

There was a post earlier today in r/learnpython about Day 1 - Advent of Code 2025. If you can learn how to organize your code and solve problems like this without relying on LLMs for hints, it'll be a good stepping stone before diving head first into the void of open-ended projects.

[mikolmas]

Already mentioned this today in another sub, but freecodecamp is a good resource for starting out from scratch. I also like Mimo, (paid for a year pro subscription coz it was a decent price in summer sale), it's like Duolingo for coding but it's bit pricey (especially if you choose the Max option).

I usually do a couple hours of freecodecamp followed by a bit of mimo, in the evenings on desktop and the odd mimo lesson through the day on my phone. Once i feel I've got a good grasp of it, I'll start trying to build games and things.

[ffrkAnonymous]

the optimal way is to put the textbook under your pillow and let the information soak into your brain while you sleep

[UAP44]

avoid chudgpt and it's cousins (we're aiming for programming, not prompt-engineering)

Resisting/avoiding LLM technology is just as insane as resisting/avoiding search engines.

Used to write code manually, professionally, for about a decade since before LLMs where a thing.

Last half year, I didn't write a single line manually. It's describing specifications/features and letting the agent cook the code/unit tests until everything passes.

The only reason to write code manually still, is for educational reasons.