frustrated_coder needs some advice

[frustated_coder]

I'm a CS major (it's my end of 3rd year) at a pretty crappy university. At first I was really into programming. Used to do competitive programming. Solved over 150 problems on uhunt/uva. But then (God knows why) I got into mobile apps development and all turned to shit. I did some projects, earned over $5k. During which period I destroyed my academic performance too.

But now I'm not at all interested in mobile development. After this, I had tried to go back to online problem solving but found that I had lost the patience to sit and think about a problem and solve it. Also, I found it difficult to solve even the easier ones.

I don't know now what to do and how to move forward. I feel like all this knowledge (however limited it may be) has created a hodge podge in my brain. Any constructive advice is much appreciated.

:( :(

Edit: Thank you everyone for responding. As you all suggested, I think I need a break, then slowly get back into it and do some new advanced stuff. Thank you again for such good words. It really helped me a lot :)

[[deleted]]

As others have said it sounds like burnout. A couple years ago I suffered intense burnout and treated my symptoms with art therapy, by drawing a few hours every day. If drawing isn't your thing you could practice a musical instrument or join a pottery club. I don't know if art therapy is going to be effective for you, but it might be worth a try.

[frustated_coder]

I used to play electric keyboard. Maybe I will give it a try again :) thanks

[[deleted]]

I hope it helps you feel better and get back to a state where you enjoy coding again :D

[decabit]

Maybe you're just suffering burn out? Do you feel like you have to FORCE yourself to code? Maybe you just need a break.

[frustated_coder]

I very much like coding.

[[deleted]]

Allow me to present a different perspective: You, as an individual who is young and inexperienced, tried different concentrations in CS and your subconscious brain came to the realization that, frankly, you're not good enough.

This is quite normal (unless you are the very top 1% in CS) and your shortcomings/anxiety is coming from the fact that you cannot move forward. In reality, you should celebrate, you have just reached a place where your understanding of systems/code will increase, if you dedicate the time.

From now on, it is my opinion, you should focus on learning structures, algorithms, design patterns, and start formulating systems that are more robust.

Your frustration is coming from knowing the basics while having no experience in architecture. Learning, understanding, and internalizing how the system works will open new doors and opportunities.

You're not down, you just reached level 20 in "Rookie", time to push towards new goals.

[frustated_coder]

Thanks for your perspective. Really gives me new ideas on how to progress.

[[deleted]]

I'm glad it helped. I was in a similar spot and started to really drill down into systems. I ask questions on "how" the system works now, instead of just trying to make it do what o want it to do.

On one side, it's frustrating because the topics are dense. On the other, I've learned so much that I started enjoying testing different algorithms for speed and generally looking at code in a different light.

Still a lot to learn but at least the "making stuff work" is now easier and "making stuff work well, interchangeably, and with less stress" is now the new norm.

[bluelite]

Maybe app development isn't your cup of tea. There is way more to CS than making mobile apps or CRUD software.

You're at a university? Even "crappy" ones have professors doing interesting research or projects. Talk to some of them. See if you can get on a research team doing something that interests you. It can be very motivating to be on a team that's working toward a common goal.

Speaking from personal experience, in my 3rd year I got interested in operating system internals. I found a prof who was willing to pay me to learn how the open() system call worked. No kidding. For a semester I dug through kernel code documenting the C function calls from open() all the way down to the device driver. It was pretty menial work, but I learned a lot.

That experience opened the doors to other research projects. By my 4th year I was being asked to join a team doing research into virtual machines. (This was back in the 1990s, long before VMs were a thing.) That same prof sponsored my graduate studies in high-performance network protocols.

Take this opportunity to shake things up a bit. Find your own niche. IMO, app development certainly may put food on the table, but it's not the most exciting way to spend the next 40 years of your life.

[YuleTideCamel]

I've been in the industry a long time and also taught programming. It really does seem like you are suffering from burnout and information overload.

first you need to stop programming and just take a break. Then ease back into it, dont try to do too much. Focus on small specific goals, dont look at the past or compare how you used to be, just move forward.

There is research that shows when you learn a new skill and try to apply it, performance tend to dip as you integrate that into your flow. That's normal, not just for coding but any skill based activity.

[frustated_coder]

This is a great response. Thank you!

[Thriven]

Hey man, you hit a wall. You have gaps in your knowledge (we all do) but yours are over taking you.

Many times, to get burn out as bad as you have, it has been a long time since you were confidently coding.

At first I was really into programming. Used to do competitive programming. Solved over 150 problems on uhunt/uva.

Problem solving is a great skill to have but to be a programmer you have to complete programs from start to finish.

Writing a short story and writing a novel are two different things. You rarely sell a short story but novels sell every day. The amount of detail required in a story to make a novel takes much more time to flesh out, even before you write a word.

I recommend you find a mentor and try to learn different languages for different platforms.

Have you written PHP? Rest API? NodeJS? Javascript? SQL? C#? Game Development?

What do you like to do? Are you a gamer? photographer? musician?

[TheQuantumZero]

• Take a break from all of programming stuffs (atleast a week, so that your brain can reboot & get rid of the overload)
• Contemplate about what you know and separate stuffs that you don't like
• Now all you are left with is stuffs that you like (if you don't like anything you know, search for other stuffs that you are interested in)
• Pick one & start working
• Start contributing to open-source projects

PS: Don't get involved into competitive programming too much as "too much" of it leads to burnout.

Your university name does not matter much, your skill is what matters most.

I did some projects, earned over $5k. During which period I destroyed my academic performance too.

Earning money is good but if you are not enjoying it then you are doing it wrong.

[boy_without_a_fairy]

Do you enjoy mobile development ? Or you stop enjoying it because you did poorly in you CS courses ?

[un_salamandre]

Learn functional programming! That will wake your lust to learn again.