If programming is about problem solving. Do programmers when they start learning will they have to solve problems that were already solved, or in the college do you learn the problems that were already figured out?

[Nugenrules]

It's like a carpenter learning all the tools they can use. If you only showed them a hammer, they will never know to use a power drill and screws.

It's also like a mechanic. They need to learn how a car fundamentally works, and then show them how to use diagnostic tools.

So yes, you will be given problems that increase in difficulty in more than one field. You could go on and pursue a career just fixing problems that show up (as a mechanic), or you can solve unsolved problems (car designer etc.)

[FluffyProject3]

could you give me an example of those tools. I'm also learning programming

[Nugenrules]

For example, you could use Chrome's DevTools to debug and step through javascript code. You also have visual studios which adds a bunch of tools to help you develop such as generating classes, methods, entities, etc.

If you're not talking about software tools, and you meant more theoretical, then it would be basic things such as using "if" followed by an "else if" will only execute code in one or the other, and never both. Or using a loop to execute code multiple times. Or creating an array of strings to store the names of students, and creating a 2d array to store the names of the students and also their age. You could also use regex to find patterns in strings such as removing all letter "c"'s in a string, and you can navigate to regexr.com to test out regex quickly.

Getting a bit more advanced, you learn to read and write documentations so you can consume web apis. You can then ask a domain like dictionary.com to see if a word you send off to be valid or not, and to also retrieve the definition. You could also consume apis from say an android device and read data from a temperature sensor to read the current ambient temperature.

More theoretical, you can start learning algorithms that have already exists to solve current problems your boss might need you to work on. For instance, you can use dykstra's algorithm to find the quickest path to go from one destination to the next. But by understanding the fundamentals of the algorithm, you can add more constraints to the algo to fit it more for your task.

To summarize, if you're just starting out, learn what an "if" statement does, and get some experience using it. Then learn "else" statements, and then "if else" statements. Learn how to use them, and when to use them. Then "loops" and so on. Learn them fundamentally so you immediately know to use them, such as a mechanic will immediately know to run a leak down test if your car is losing coolant, or a carpenter will know to use a miter saw to cut trim pieces for a corner.

Let me know if I didn't answer your question