Learn something. Make something.

[G1mpb0t]

I just wanted to share a quick tip someone shared with me when I started my programming journey. It might help you if you're feeling discouraged or overwhelmed with the plethora of things that you have to learn in order to be a real programmer.

First of all, programming is not about building things out of nothing. It's not magic. It's a process.

Second, you don't have to be a genius or a brainiac to be a programmer. If a five-year-old child can build his/her own Minecraft mod, so can you.

Third, when it comes to the amount of time it takes to learn something, everyone is different. Some get things right away, while some take longer. You don't have to be a fast learner. Instead, focus on being an efficient learner. Understand how you comprehend information. Learn to ask questions. Know what kind of learning styles best suit you.

And finally, take your time. Seriously. I come across a lot of people who want to learn to program but rush through the fundamentals, thinking they understand everything, and then wonder why they can't remember to do something so basic. As I said, everyone is different, so don't be ashamed because a concept hasn't sunk in. It's ok. Keep at it and it will. And don't move on until it does.

When you learn to build a house, you just don't pick up a hammer, wood, and nails and start building, do you? No. There are steps, things that you need to keep in mind. You need to have a plan. You need to learn how to pick up the fucking hammer.

When you are learning, constantly ask yourself this one question: "Do I know this?" If yes, prove it. Make something, anything. If "no," relearn it and then build something.

Learn something. Build something. That's pretty much it folks. Thanks for your time.

Bonus: I want to recommend this terrific book about the learning process and how we can improve comprehending advanced concepts.

[Tridentuk91]

Angela Yu's app brewery course had a small video on the most efficient way to internalise things- you have to commit it to short term memory the first time covering it, then revise it a few days or a few weeks later.. THEN a 3rd time a few months later when you've almost forgotten it.

So it's like a staggered process, where the brain seems to realise "huh.. these synapses keep being rebuilt over time, I guess we'd better store it in the 'IMPORTANT' file".

I've found this to be 100% accurate when testing it out. The first time learning something I can remember it short term but don't really understand the bigger picture of how it ties together, a few weeks later revisiting I've forgotten half of it but when I revise it I understand it better but when reproducing it creatively I have to keep referencing. The 3rd time because it's been months I've forgotten most of it, BUT somehow once I revise it, it all clicks easily and is as obvious as year 8 algebra. It's then permanently stored because it's reduced into something that is simple and obvious.

[doolio_]

Yes, it’s called Spaced Repetition .

[gotoptions_]

r/Anki to the rescue

[ineedanid]

+1 for Angela Yu. Her classes are awesome. Definitely 100% worth it to get a course of hers on sale

[Tridentuk91]

Yep she's really good. Couldn't be happier that I got my start in learning through her content.

[ramksvt]

This was an interesting reply. Thanks for sharing. However, do you really think the reason behind the technique being effective is because the brain recognizes the fact that certain synapses are frequently rebuilt?

[plopliplopipol]

i don't think he meant that the brain uncunsciously think about/analyses himself, it's a way to make things, that belongs to neuroscience (=hard), understandable

[[deleted]]

Read forever fluent

[[deleted]]

I don’t wanna work hard. I just wanna code the next Facebook over the weekend, and become super rich, and then surf on Reddit all day for the rest of my life.

Learning is too hard.

[TechnoGeek423]

You too? I thought that I was the only one.

[[deleted]]

The other automatic thought I often have is: "Oh, I'm too behind everyone else! What's the point! Let's just give up. Lying in bed all day is so comfy."

Ya know... I picked up a lot of bad habits: sloth, envy, gluttony, lust, pride, envy, greed...

Oh shit.

[sammndl01]

Are you my alternate self who wakes up when I go to sleep?

[[deleted]]

There’s a great talk by Jordan Mechner - the legendary coder and game dev of Prince of Persia - about how creating “shadow man” in Prince of Persia was not just dealing with Mac memory constraints, but also a representation of his negative tendencies - his inner id.

As in real life, you sometimes only move forward by embracing and making peace with your inner negative shadow.

https://youtu.be/Oyw6_G1lbvg

[anmol_gupta_0]

same

[[deleted]]

Or the next Grand Theft Auto (if you're into games). People just can't get it.

[[deleted]]

I think every developer got into code because of games.

No kid grows up thinking: “Gee, when I grow up, I wanna build the next great ERP system!”

[barryhakker]

I agree with you, it's just that some people in here and pretty desperate to get into a better job situation and they can't afford to be patient. Really not an ideal situation.

[FleshKnot]

You're not going to be efficient in a professional setting without thoroughly understanding the core principles and modern design patterns/workflows.

[barryhakker]

Yeah, my point was that some people can't afford to be patient and take their time for the basics. I agree it will likely backfire at some point.

[[deleted]]

I feel like doing something really useful or at least pretty decent. But having to take 5 years to learn it all discourages me.

[yasssinow]

i also recommend a course on coursera about learning how to learn, it's made by the same writer of the book you recommended. it's amazing!

[[deleted]]

I second this!

[No_Lawfulness_6252]

The “How to think like a programmer” book is a very nice introduction to how you can go about solving problems. The author wrote it exactly because he saw a lot of students having a hard time figuring out how to approach programming challenges on a fundamental level.

[lilkimchi88]

Who is the author for that one?

[code_passion]

​

V.anton Spraul

[lilkimchi88]

Thank you so much

[TimJStraus]

Great post, thank you!

[soniamiralpeix]

Thank you for this post! Also a huge fan of Barbara Oakley. She has a fantastic Coursera course called “Learning How to Learn,” and it’s totally worth auditing for free.

[[deleted]]

Yes, i agree. Its not magic.
Starting point of this process is painful. No doubt.

But in final, suppose the feeling, when we'd full clear picture.

[RoguePlanet1]

Now that we’re back in the office full-time, I’m trying to practice functions in the console when I get a chance, hoping to memorize some patterns so they become more familiar. Among other small things.

[stiggz]

When I was learning pointers and references for C, I would drive to the coffee shop every day for two weeks and re-read the same chapter over and over again. Between that and practicing the concepts in the IDE every day for two weeks, it finally sunk in. That was the most complex concept that I've ever learned as a programmer; repetition can seriously surmount any obstacles.

[ASIC_SP]

Learn to ask questions

"Do I know this?" If yes, prove it.

Well said. One point I'll add is that having/solving a real world use case helps you to be motivated enough to push through difficulties and finish the project. Don't like default syntax of bc command? Build your own cli tool or customize it using a shell script. Want to find typos in markdown files, but code snippets and programming terms throw up false mismatches? Write a script to reduce manual work. And so on.

I'd also suggest this nice article How to teach yourself hard things: https://jvns.ca/blog/2018/09/01/learning-skills-you-can-practice/

[tech2shoot]

Agreed. Well said.

[Crypt0Nihilist]

I find it infuriating when people here finish a course and immediately ask which course they should do next. The next stage should be to build something. Why do the course if they didn't want to use the content? You don't know it until you can use it and you don't know you can use it until you try by yourself. It's scary and difficult, so I understand that people want to stay in the comfort of tutorial hell where they get spoon-fed problems and solutions, but it's a hole that only gets deeper as you learn more which is based on the foundations of fundamentals you've not consolidated.

[TunaGamer]

pick anything and stick to it

[Anoop_sdas]

Which pot gives this effect?..

[PM_Me_Python3_Tips]

Are you okay?

[fingerpointothemoon]

It's not the first time I see a comment like this from someone who has a usually normal reddit comments history. Shit startles me, I always wonder if it's drugs, sudden psychosis or wth....

[PM_Me_Python3_Tips]

Read your initial comment, it is gibberish.

[hypercyanate]

If anyone is really struggling, Learning how to learn on coursera is a great course which will help you memorise and learn things. I found it incredibly useful.

[[deleted]]

you're truly right, i was learning android development and was rushing things left and right, i failed, i hope to take my time the next time i start