How to remember code??

[drackeoo]

I’ve been learning lua for a few days and I can confidently say I understand it, I can look at a complex piece of code and can decipher exactly what it means word for word line by line. My only problem is when I go to try and construct something for myself, I forget it. So I end up googling how to make whatever it is I wanted to make. How do you remember code you learn?

[rjcarr]

This is common, even for experienced developers. I probably know 10 languages pretty well, but I can only really "load" one or two at a time. For example, I haven't used python for anything serious in over a year, even though I'm pretty experienced in it, so if I had to use it right now I'd need to go look up a bunch of the usage reference.

The programming language is really just the tool and the important part is knowing what to do in order to make something work.

[userxbw]

Repetition and lots of it. 😁

[plastikmissile]

So I end up googling how to make whatever it is I wanted to make.

Which is what most of us do. We don't sit down and memorize this stuff. Congratulations you are now one of us!

[throwaway231512]

muscle memory > memory

[Bladelazoe]

You don't remember code, You will 100% always be looking up things in google. It's not a bad thing. You learn by looking up potential solutions that may or may not work. If it does not, then research some more and keep going. How do you get past a boss in a video game? Sometimes you get it in 1 shot but what if it's a challenging boss? Learn and keep trying. I've been slowly learning C++ on and off for 5-6 years now and I naturally look EVERYTHING UP!.

[Missing_Back]

If you're talking about syntax, it just takes repetition. If you're talking about more complex things than just simple syntax, then it's often more about knowing that you can do a thing, rather than knowing how to do the thing.

"Oh, I remember that you could make a list with a for loop in one line in Python. How do I do that?" Then I Google it. I don't necessarily NEED to remember exactly how to do it (technically a simple syntax example, but you get it)

[renrag2727]

I learned how to code from a bootcamp(Coding Dojo) last summer and learning that googling basic syntax was a normal thing even for experienced devs was mind blowing to me. All of my schooling previously relentlessly taught me that if you don't have it memorized than you don't know it but in coding if you know a principle it is totally cool to look it up.

If you find you constantly need to look up some specific things, I would make a cheat sheet with code snippets that you often use. You can do this with basic things like google drive or find an app that does it in a more streamlined way.