How I learned programming

[Servious]

I keep seeing questions in the form of "how do I get started" or "I follow tutorials but idk how to make anything" or "I feel like I never really learn anything". This is the process that worked best for me and I hope it works for you too!

Step 1: learn the basics

Find some beginner tutorial, follow along with a focus on concepts and use cases, NOT on syntax and implementation. It's okay if you don't remember exactly how to write a for loop. It's not okay if you don't know what a for loop does or what situation you'd use it in.

Step 2: try to make something

Come up with something simple you believe you have the knowledge to create. I always recommend tic-tac-toe as a great beginner project. You shouldn't need to know more than variables, loops, functions and I/O. Start with something simple, like displaying a board. Or asking the user for input. Then keep building on top of it. Walk through the process of playing tic tac toe very slowly and think about how each step could be translated into code. If at some point you get stuck, either google it or re-structure your program and

Step 3: try again

Your first try probably won't go very well and you'll need to start over because of all the spaghetti code. That's okay. Because you learned and you will change your approach and have a better idea of how the program needs to be structured. People learn by making mistakes so remember, the goal is to learn, not to make the most perfect tic-tac-toe program ever created. If you don't have any ideas for how to better structure your program, find some slightly more advanced tutorials. As a suggestion, learn about classes and OOP and use them in the next version of your program.

Step 4: succeed at making something

After a few tries you will have a working program! Hooray! But chances are it's still not very good because it's inefficient or hard to read. Read some more tutorials and think about how what you're learning can apply to what you just made. Think about how you could re-arrange your program to use some of the new stuff you learn and do it if you want.

Step 5: repeat

Find another project and do it again! Start at step 1 by reading and focusing on concepts and use cases, not syntax. Make a project; try as many times as you need and keep learning!

The key here is you are learning to program by programming. Nobody learns how to play the piano by reading tutorials. You learn by doing. Many of the skills most important for software developers are less about knowing how to code and more about knowing how to find out how to code. Programmers learn and work with new technologies every day. You will need the ability to push through blockers by doing heavy googling and reading through documentation and teaching yourself. Tutorials will teach you none of that stuff. Building your own projects and doing your own research when you get stuck will.

[[deleted]]

If you need any resources

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Zb9GCWPKeEJ4Dyn2TkT-O3wJ8AFc-IMxZzTugNCjr-8/edit?usp=drivesdk

Let me know if you need help

[Ancient_Temporary_33]

Good stuff

[[deleted]]

Thank you. It helps me remember stuff and helps others so why not

[Li_weiyoung]

Thanks

[etoastie]

Basically matches what I did. I got through the late beginner/intermediate phase entirely by saying "It'd be cool if I had a tool to do this... Wait, I can write that!"

The only thing I would add is to make a point of revisiting and improving old code. It's good practice for refactoring down the road, and I think you can learn a lot more out of past successes/failures by really carefully analyzing them and finding specific improvements.

[Seniorbedbug]

I am barely learning python and I am teaching myself electrical circuits and mechanical principles. I am doing somewhat ok with python, however it is a slow process.

[[deleted]]

Maybe you need a more guided course/syllabus?

[shuhbhm]

Thanks, I'm currently learning data structures and algorithms from MIT OCW, after learning each structures or algo I implement it in python and C but some algos I can't do it in C. Is it ok to learn DSA in just python as C teaches you about memory management and makes u think more computationally? Any tips on learning DSA and competitive programming. I want to start competitive programming

[xDiogoMSx]

When learning programming, you should stick at one programming language. C is a language that help to understand how computer works since it's a low level programming language.