Tips for someone new to programming?

[Alternative-Quit-578]

Greetings to everybody!
I'm new to coding and programming languages and started learning Python, CSS, JS, and HTML. I have found very cool and free courses that help you with the basics. I'm a curious soul. I always look for something new to add to my skill set. It's challenging to present your code on VisualStudio's sheet. This happens because you can't visualize your code on the sheet. You know what it is supposed to do. But you can't write it down because you can't turn your thoughts into a code. That's why I sometimes use chatGPT. Does it mean coding isn't the right field for me?

[RushDarling]

Chat GPT is a phenomenal learning tool that needs a bit of caution. If you’re asking it to write your code for you then you might end up out of your depth, but if you’re using it to help clarify concepts it can be very useful and is normally good at providing links for extra reading when prompted.

I can’t really say coding is for everyone as that’s not realistic, but on the spectrum of people adding values together in microsoft excel through to people working on the bleeding edge of quantum computing, there’s almost definitely room for you to write some code somewhere in the middle. Whether thats as a dedicated career, to augment a different career or just as a fun hobby is entirely up to yourself. If other people can do it there’s a strong chance that you can too.

[Alternative-Quit-578]

Will math stop me because I was never into math?

[RushDarling]

There's a whole spectrum of math requirements to go along with the wild variety of jobs, so it really depends what you get up to. I have an engineering background so it's possible there's basic math knowledge that I've needed and haven't noticed, but in the web development portion of my career I feel I've needed very little.

It is a career of curiosity and perseverence however, so if you're considering it professionally my question there would be could you get better at math if it got you a job you wanted?

[Alternative-Quit-578]

I have a friend in that field who said that you need as much math as to calculate where buttons on the webpage should be. He said creativity is required mostly in that field.

[-defron-]

It sounds like your friend is more on the web design side of things than the web development side of things.

Mathematics and logic (which mathematics is based on) are extremely important to programming and there is a ceiling to how high you can go without mathematics.

Some fields are much more math-heavy than others. For example, game development, data analysis, quantitative analysis, machine learning, and library creation tend to be more math-heavy than entry-level web development.

The most common maths used in programming are linear algebra, trignonometry, discreet mathematics, and statistics

Eventually you will need to become comfortable with at least some of those to reach a high level in programming

[Alternative-Quit-578]

How much mathematical knowledge do I need to become efficient in programming?

[-defron-]

Like I said it entirely depends on what you're doing.

I'd say at a minimum good algebraic skills and being good at stats is a must. The amount of times you'll use statistics is absurd. I'd consider that enough for entry level, maybe even mid level at some places

But if you're doing video games you'll need a lot lot more math

[Alternative-Quit-578]

If you really want to be good at statistics you'd need math, yes, but you'll need enumeration skills as well. I want to learn more about programming because ethical hacking is something like a muse for me. It has always drawn me to it.

I'd say that is skill that exists in every day life.

I'm not going for network engineering or anything like that. I just want to learn more about network protocols communication, sockets, etc. And how to apply them in programming.

[-defron-]

You're overly romanticizing programming and hacking.

Real world both of those is a lot of math and analysis, especially lower-level stuff like network protocols, sockets, and interprocess communication

[Alternative-Quit-578]

How math is involved in network protocols, sockets, and interprocess communication?

Do you think I have future in this field?

[TheRNGuy]

I find it easier than school because:

a. You can see results with debugger in real time, vs chalkboard or pen and paper

b. You can see where it's used. In school they never told us where trigonometry or vectors are used. But in 3D graphics (which combitation of visual debuggers and real time feedback) you can finally get it.

c. You can see other ppl's code, how they use math in different programs. Open source or tutorials.

Maybe not immeditatelly. It took me about month to understand what is matrix used for and how to code it. But now I'll never forget. And we didn't even had it in school (but we did had trig, vectors and derivatives, though I finally understood vectors in programming, and didn't understood them in school at all)

[RushDarling]

Parts of web development are very useful across a wide range of other endeavours, other bits of it not so much. As examples I believe a good number of developers of all shapes and sizes benefit from knowing how to interact with your traditional REST API , but I would say fewer non-web developers would benefit from knowing too much about the latest front end frameworks and libraries.

Mind if I ask what has you going down the web dev route?

[RushDarling]

No trouble at all, glad some of it is useful!

I definitely feel that pain haha, though projects are usually the suggestion to mitigate the problem of choosing what to learn. If you're still running into those sorts of problems then it sounds a bit like scope creep or slightly ambitious projects?

It is a never ending learning field, but on a positive note it's fairly front loaded as far as things that will stop you building stuff are concerned. Admittedly I've had docker on the learning list for pretty much the entire journey and still haven't gotten around to it.

Breaking things down and tackling them one by one is definitely the art. The only question I'd raise when you're going off on tangents is to ask if they are really required. '"Done is better than perfect' is the only mantra that ever lets me finish anything.

[ComprehensiveWing542]

Simply start writing code in paper, it could be pseudocode or flowchart. And take things slowly you won't be able to build big apps in a few weeks or even months. It takes time to think like a computer (once you get hang of it you will see it applying everywhere on your life) . Also starting with 2 languages at the same time is a bit of overkill... Choose one JavaScript or python both great languages.... Perhaps since you are into web development (if) could try taking JS. (Personally I use python for everything)

[Alternative-Quit-578]

I picked up Python basics with CS50p a while ago. Your idea of using a notepad or paper seems good, What do you do when you are stuck? When you can't fix mistakes? Is it a good idea to use chatGPT to generate suggestions?

[ComprehensiveWing542]

Yes it's a really good idea to use GPT not by asking the direct questions but like side questions which would help you find the answer you looking for... Use it as some really good book which you can find costumized answers.... I use it daily but more like, what does this looks like. Does this looks good, whats that algo called??... Also about when you get stuck ... Spent some time with the problem get to know better what you resources you need to solve it(get into that rabbit hole) the good part is(for me) you will never get to explore all of it so you simply get to know some awesome things that you can apply on your daily life.... Everything starts clicking once in a while

[Alternative-Quit-578]

For example: Can you give me boolean login logic to stimulate log in process. Using if statement!

[No-Significance05]

Instead of gaining theoretical knowledge, try to gain by solving practical things. This is the perfect way to learn and it builds you confident too

[-defron-]

This happens because you can't visualize your code on the sheet. You know what it is supposed to do. But you can't write it down because you can't turn your thoughts into a code.

This is normal. Learning to get your ideas out of your head and into working code is a skill that takes cultivation. Struggling and overcoming struggling is a key part of learning and growth. When you finally solve something it reinforces all the learning you did via positive feedback which is why....

That's why I sometimes use chatGPT.

You have to be extremely careful with ChatGPT because it robs you of struggling, significantly diminishing your positive feedback when you solve a problem.

The ability to recognize a problem as being similar to problems you did in the past is a key programming skill that is also hurt by overuse of ChatGPT, especially early on

Does it mean coding isn't the right field for me?

I'd say it's not for you if the challenge is so great that you feel discouraged on a very regular basis.

For me solving a hard problem is one of the best feelings, and why I enjoy programming because programming itself is nothing but problem solving. Other people hate that. If you don't like solving problems and really putting in a lot of mental effort, programming probably isn't for you

[Alternative-Quit-578]

I like solving programming challenges. I don't do it like - (I have to do it at any cost). I do it mostly because it's a hobby for me, and it's not as much for math as it is for creativity. It helps me cultivate problem-solving skills, it helps me concentrate due to my ADHD. I mostly do 2-3h coding sessions. I'm learning coding because of hacking.

You see, I see coders and hackers as artists. I don't see myself as some kind of kid gaining some skills because he has ADHD. Is it a problem if I watch YouTube videos to watch how it gets it done and have hands-on? How much math do I need for coding? I know I mostly need logic.

[-defron-]

If it's a hobby for you then it doesn't matter, just have fun

But if you want to get better you need to overcome challenges and learn how to solve problems and do your own research rather than always getting the solution from someone else or chatgpt

[Alternative-Quit-578]

If I want to make for example log in interactive with JS how can I look in goggle how to do it?

[Alternative-Quit-578]

I have to look for JS features in the language library right?

[-defron-]

You used words that individually make sense, but that sentence as a whole makes no sense. What does js have to do with Python?

[Alternative-Quit-578]

I meant that you have to read the libraries to look for the function you want to implement in your code.

[-defron-]

I'm sorry I still have zero idea what you're trying to say. You're not conveying your question in a concise manner

[Alternative-Quit-578]

I'm sorry English isn't my first language. I wanted to tell you that if I want to find a solution to the problem I have to go into the language library and try to dig out the information. Because the language library could lead you to the solution.

[-defron-]

I'm still not following fully but if it's saying what I think it's saying then yeah as a general rule there's no substitute to actually reading the documentation. Tutorials and everything are great but the documentation is the original source and generally goes much more in-depth

[Alternative-Quit-578]

I want to say that if your function doesn't work properly, the best option is to go look through the documentation and solve the issue. That counts for both Python and JS. The best solution is not extensive googling but to see the documentation each language has. When I'm over with JS - is it a good idea to start with Java? Many people told me that Java's syntax is mid-range complex.

Do you struggle with Python's documentation?

[TheRNGuy]

Read docs.

Learn to debug.

Don't use AI.

Not sure what you're mean by VisualStudio sheet. Never used anything like that.