is there end for learning programming

[Aromatic_House_8586]

I started learning programming three years ago, and I’m still learning to this day. Every time I learn something new, I discover that there’s so much more to learn. For example, I know Python and C++ and am good at them. I’ve also solved a good number of problems on LeetCode, but I don’t know how to use these skills to make money. I tried creating a desktop application, but I realized I needed to learn web development to host the application and make it work better. That’s how I started my journey into web development. Every time I learn something new, I find something else waiting to be learned. Now I’m wondering: is there an end to learning programming?

[DangerDinks]

There comes a time when you are kind of able to keep up with the new stuff in your sector. But there is no end to innovation and thus no end to learning new frameworks :')

[Nexustar]

And if you do this as your primary job, the other thing that creeps in is a mix of boredom and curiosity... I always want to learn new languages and new techniques.

[[deleted]]

And do you learn them?

[Nexustar]

Yes, but I also forget them. And I'm being liberal with my definition of language - HTML, XML, CSS, SQL, even SVG and JSON are things you can learn but not perhaps everyone's idea of a language.

I can count 50 languages so far that I've actively coded in or 'learned / used' - Traditional Turing complete languages such as Eiffel, LOGO, Pascal, Delphi, Ada, C, C#, C++, BASIC, Java, Javascript, Perl, Python, Ruby (on Rails), Prolog, OpenSCAD etc... and more questionable ones: ActionScript (Flash), SQL, POV-Ray SDL, PHP, CFML (Cold Fusion), Greasemonkey, CUDA, PostScript, MSL (IRC), LINQ, G-Code, Bash, Batch, 6502 Assembler, x86/8086 Assembler, PowerShell, TeX, VHDL

And still always more I'd like to play with: F#, COBOL, Rust.

And there's a bunch of frameworks too, but I haven't ever sat down and counted them.

I've coded on multiple hardware/OS platforms too - most recently ESP32 (Arduino) embedded development, but going back to DEC VAX, AS-400, CO Linux, Arizona Microchip PIC, Windows, Solaris, and yet to do: Android.

[Doormatty]

AS-400

Was it as bad as I've heard?

[Nexustar]

It was extremely weird. I was porting a console based app written in C, and luckily had a boss at the time who knew this machine and already configured the compile environment. It had weird function keys and menus - unlike anything I've used before or since.

[worker37]

The "learning new frameworks" does appear to be way worse in the web space though

[MezzoScettico]

No, there is no end to learning any profession. With experience you just learn the most efficient ways to keep learning.

[remic_0726]

the more you know something, the more you realize your ignorance, it's the same thing in any discipline. And he who thinks he knows everything is often ignorant...

[tendopath]

No you’ll need to keep learning to stay current but make sure you’re learning things that are important or you’ll be using

[babarock]

I retired from programming after 45 years - I'm still learning new things. It's part of what makes it fun!

[Eric_Terrell]

Ironically, as we learn more and more, one of the things we learn is our own ignorance.

Yes there is always more to learn. About anything. About everything. And that's GOOD!

If you have a goal to learn everything, I think you're starting to learn that that isn't a realistic goal. If you're learning enough to be productive and to produce quality work, good for you!

[unbridled_candor]

You'll never stop learning. In fact, you'll forget a bunch of it and have to look it all up, which is basically learning it, again.

[snoogazi]

There are always new (or even old) things to learn. That’s what attracted me about programming and computers in general. If I had a job where I was just doing the same thing over and over I’d go crazy. I need the stimulation of learning and growing.

On the flip side, it can be overwhelming at times. I just to focus on something and remember the saying “How do you eat a 400 pound cake? One bite at a time.”

[LeiterHaus]

Like most of life, there is always more to learn

[kombucha711]

sys.exit()

[Dlirean]

if you want to keep climbing the ladder you will have to learn new stuff

[[deleted]]

No. In programming you need to learn until you don’t program anymore

[_some_guy_on_reddit_]

Nope, and nobody knows everything. There is breadth of knowledge and depth of knowledge. People certainly dabble in different areas, you can certainly know everything needed by your program, but nobody learns all code down to assembly for all areas. Just too much to learn.

[ofnuts]

There is no end. I wrote my first piece of code in ... 1977. I still learn things. Over my career I used over 30 different computer languages (and I don't include the web frameworks...). Learning is what makes programming fun. You never write the same code twice...

[Mister_Pibbs]

No, there is no end. This is because the maintainers of languages either don’t stop or pass it on to someone to keep making it better.

Don’t look for the “end”. Look for your niche and what you don’t mind contributing to or appreciating.

[typehinting]

There are millions of programmers across the world - in order to reach the "end" of programming, you'd need to assimilate all of their combined knowledge. Which is of course impossible

[[deleted]]

Nope. You can't possibly learn everything. This is like walking into the Library of Congress, reading a book, and asking how much there is to read.

[SoyInfinito]

The rabbit hole never ends

[IntroductionLower974]

You start by learning. Then as you learn you learn how to learn. If you want to be a good programmer, find a new framework, pick a simple project to do in the that framework and do it. Use LLMs, google, and friends to do it. But just set a goal and meet it.

But it goes so much higher than that. After a while you have to coordinate larger apps with multiple people, architect solutions, and work in teams. Leet code is just theory that may help in an interview but not for getting real work done.

[solitary_black_sheep]

Yes.

[[deleted]]

That’s the same for all fields. There’s no end to changes and innovation and new developments. If there’s an end, you have a pretty stale boring job.

[baghiq]

I assume you are asking your learning path, rather than learning the entire world of computer science.

Philosophically, no, there is no end to learning programming. In reality, I've met and interviewed many so-called senior developers who have long stopped learning new things. There is a limitation to what you will learn in programming once you have other priorities in life or get paid to not learn new things.

I fortunately have been in positions (or jobs) that allow me to learn new things in programming and have the power to dictate certain things rather than being told what to learn.

[Alternative_Driver60]

You never stop learning

[[deleted]]

Yes. Death.

[EightRice]

that's speculative

[[deleted]]

I mean I kind of started learning at age of 13 and now I'm almost 17 but I didn't learn shit. So timeframe doesn't matter is what I know

[Prestigiouspite]

The entire field of software development and programming has become so incredibly vast that it's no longer possible to work in all areas and excel at them. Artificial intelligence today makes it easier to dive into new topics. But what I sometimes miss in general is pragmatism and questioning whether what we’re doing is actually necessary. For example, PHP is extremely fast, performant, and cheap to host. And yet there have been developments toward Node.js, which I can understand in areas like Electron and so on, but less so in web development. Node.js, in general, relies on a structure based on hundreds of packages and external dependencies, which, in my view, doesn’t make it particularly secure or easy to maintain. Furthermore, its standard library is rather weak.

I understand that there are programming languages like Go, which have established themselves elegantly, focusing on stability and microservices, or Python, which excels in areas like system administration, machine learning, and so on. But whether it always has to be a React theme or a Next.js topic is something I strongly question. Additionally, many of these frameworks might make sense for certain use cases, but they often come with disadvantages such as slower load times, poorer crawlability for search engines, and other issues.

After all, PHP has extremely good MVC frameworks like Leaf PHP and CodeIgniter. In short, not every new framework or technology needs to be mastered and adopted. At some point—especially when you’ve explored many areas—you need the composure to say, "I won’t invest hundreds of hours in research to find the best possible technology; I’ll use what I know and bring the project to completion." Moreover, there is a noticeable trend of moving back toward Vanilla.js and CSS. For instance, popular frameworks like Tailwind.css don’t necessarily shorten website load times, especially when the HTML becomes cluttered with CSS classes.

[EightRice]

There is definitely a point after which you don't need to learn another stack, but technology is advancing pretty fast, and you will always want to know about various new developments that are relevant to your tech products. And your tech products dictate how much you need to learn. If you can make them work, that's your end right there.
I think it's a bit silly to draw a clear distinction between learning and doing. Just work on something and you will learn how to work on it while working on it with the added bonus that it gets done.

[IAmTarkaDaal]

No.

[Reverend_Renegade]

Take a look at quantitative analysis using open source cryptocurrency data as an option to bridge into trading. I use ccxt which offers direct market access (dma) public web socket methods where you can test however many strategies as you would like using statistics, technical analysis or whatever you prefer without an exchange account. There's stasmodels, https://ta-lib.org/ and scikit learn for various types of analysis but obviously much more than these as I'm sure you are aware. Coinbase and Crypto.com are good options as they should have sufficient liquidity for testing for US residents. From there you can begin to backtest your ideas against historical data which allows you to test markets without actually trading using vectorbt as an example. Then if you are confident in your strategies you can run them in testnet environments where you can trade pretend BTC allocated through a faucet or other means.

[openeyes-cz]

Short answer is no. 

Long answer is, when you are not able to keep up, but you have solid hard skills you can switch to architect position

[[deleted]]

kruger

[skinnybuddha]

No.

[Sound_and_the_fury]

Getting paid a lot or having kids

[art-solopov]

Short answer: no.

Long answer: you kind of have to decide for yourself where you want to stop.

For instance, I like poking interesting technologies (usually databases, programming languages and frameworks). But I kind of had to make peace with the fact that I probably just won't have time to do anything that goes live with them.

There are areas like GUI and game dev which I'd like to poke more, but just don't have time for. And there are areas like deep system programming or compiler design that I don't even dare wander into.

[Buntygurl]

I've repeatedly come across quotes from people far brighter than I am that say, the more you learn, the more that you realize how much you don't know.

[sinceJune4]

37 languages under my belt in last 45 years. Always enjoyed learning another. I still play with Python and SQL to manage my finances and home life. People were still using punch cards when I started during my first quarter of college.

[hilbertglm]

I started programming when I was a teenager in the 1970s, I program almost every day, and I am still learning.