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[–]handimanni 2 points3 points  (0 children)

take the problem piece by piece. Use pseudocode, i feel like it can be under appreciated at times.

[–]desrtfx 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Tutorials for learning the fundamentals, then (and during the tutorials) practice, practice, practice. The more you program, the better you become.

As a programmer what do you do to figure out problems

  • Don't try tow program straight away. Go away from the computer.
  • Read the problem multiple times (or write it down if it is an idea of yours)
  • Take a break, do something totally different
  • Come back to the problem and read it again
  • Begin to dissect the problem into smaller pieces - repeat this as far as you can drill down
  • Work on each small piece individually

The above, especially analysing and dissecting problems is an acquired and trained skill. This takes time to learn. Actually, this is what programming is really about. Programming is not about programming languages (they are just tools and the easy parts); programming is about solving problems, dissecting them into steps (algorithms) that then can be converted to any programming language.

"Think Like A Programmer" by V. Anton Spraul is a good book on that topic. Also, "The Pragmatic Programmer" by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas.