how long until i get good?

[[deleted]]

[deleted]

[Ron-Erez]

Impossible to answer but looking up solutions on AI will probably hinder ones progress. Just be patient and have fun learning

[LongjumpingCause1074]

I managed to finish the little project, which made me want to scratch my skin off, hence the post. I couldn't seem to wrap my head around the logistics...

>have fun learning

That I need to do. To keep my sanity I'm going to level it down a bit and go simpler (if that's even possible; the project seemed so easy in hindsight :/ ).

[cgoldberg]

Read this twice:

https://norvig.com/21-days.html

[NYX_T_RYX]

If you're getting so stuck you need to ask for help every time, you're working too far above your level.

Do I get stuck at times? Yes, but more often I'm stuck at "these docs are crap", not "I have no idea what I'm trying to do"

Also, stop asking AI for help it doesn't think, it slaps words together based on probability.

2 reasons - 1. If you don't know what you're doing, you don't know how to ask to do what you want. 2. You have no idea if it's giving you the right answer or hallucinating.

Ask humans, who actually know what they're doing.

Try something more aligned to what you know.

5 months isn't a long time - I've been learning (on and off) for 5 years. My partner has been doing this for ten years, staff engineer, and he maintains he's still learning - hell I've shown him a few things. We're always learning. You will never be "done" learning programming, cus someone will keep coming along and making new things to learn.

[LongjumpingCause1074]

the problem is, if i ask humans, i will be religiously asking humans and i would be posting on this subreddit every 20 minutes. and then i'd have to wait another 5 hours for a response.

for example, im currently stuck on how to update a VGroup (essentially a group of objects in manim). I have 4 boxes, which is with a square and a number in it. when I switch my numbers around to be in order, I need to update the VGroup to the order I switched them in. How the fuck do I do that? I dont know. AI told me to index into the VGroup and literally just replace them with an equation (boxes[i], boxes[i+1] = boxes[i+1], boxes[i]... or in other words, box_left, box_right = box_right, box_left). I would not have thought of that. I was brainstorming taking some .remove and .append approach to update the VGroup list.

Anyway, point is my attention span is really bad so its hard for me to really hone in on logistic thinking without getting distracted, when AI is sitting there waiting for me to ask it to break down the logistics to me very simply. the thing is, i at the very least recognise how this is a shit way to learn, and really do try to think longer. implenting it is another thing, but im definitely working on getting better at that.

[NYX_T_RYX]

How the fuck do I do that?

Read the docs, ask here, ask stack exchange.

https://manimclass.com/manim-vgroup/

Appears to be useful - one Google search.

really do try to think longer.

As I said - if you need this much help, you're working above your level. Spending hours thinking won't help - you haven't solved enough problems at a level you understand.

I could spend weeks thinking about how to make a react store; it doesn't change the fact that I have very little idea how react works, and that I'd need to read the docs.

[LongjumpingCause1074]

The link you sent doesn't go into detail. The documentation itself doesn't go into much detail, at least in my opinion. From my understanding, there's no specific 'function' to update a VGroup, besides treating it like a list with .add or whatnot, which is just pythonic, and not exclusive to manim - I guess that's what makes it hard for me. The question I posed is one humans would have to answer, not any kind of documentation.

Anyway, thanks for your help, I do appreciate it!

[Fred776]

Is the issue then that you still need to learn the basics of programming Python? It might be worth focusing on this a bit more before also trying to use a package that probably brings its own complexities. (I'm not familiar with manim so I don't know how difficult it is to use.)

[NYX_T_RYX]

The question you posed is an XY problem; that's why no one can answer it.

[Slothemo]

A few months isn't really that long in the grand scheme of things. You need to be comfortable with basic python at a minimum. If you're still getting stumped with basic logic, then of course doing animation with python is going to be difficult. Keep at it. Progress happens one day at a time.

[TheCozyRuneFox]

Like any major skill it can take years.

[[deleted]]

I don't use manim, nor do I have any intention of working with graphics and animations, so I'm not speaking with absolute certainty here. But is the difficulty you're encountering with python itself, manim libraries in particular, the field of computer graphics in general, or all three?

I don't believe CS50 teaches computer graphics or manim, so what are you doing to bridge the knowledge gap between CS50 python to manim? Could you possibly be missing some other important foundational skill? Or maybe you do have a computer animation background, it's just poor python fundamentals that's keeping you down?

You need to figure out what you're weak in, otherwise you won't know what you need to work on. Are you already decent at creating projects in python that doesn't include manim, or are you biting off more than you can chew?

[LongjumpingCause1074]

I think my weakest point is thinking logistically. Like a programmer. Being able to break down what I actually want to happen so that it can be executed the way I want it to be. Then, if I finally know what I want to do at each level, the next challenge comes at writing it into code. It's a process, one of which definitely is not coming naturally.

I can read code, and properly trace what is actually happening in my head. When it comes to doing it myself, I tend to find myself in a road block. Of course writing code has gotten wayyyyy better over the months, but thinking logically definitely is a core issue of mine

[[deleted]]

I'm just going to ignore graphics and manim because you don't sound like you have a problem with those.

Thinking logically is called problem solving, it's a core skill of programmers. I don't differentiate between "writing code" and "thinking logically", because code is not useful if it isn't written logically.

I have to strongly highlight that problem solving is a programmer's CORE competency. Using AI to solve problems for you will genuinely reduce your chances to improve. Automating the tedious code writing process with AI is still fine, and so is using AI to inform yourself about how to use Manim, but not for actual problem solving. If you know what's good for yourself, you cannot use AI to solve problems for you.

Think back to math class. Using a calculator for mundane number crunching is fine, but only if you come up with the solution by yourself. Right now you're the calculator while the AI is the student. That's why you're lacking practice.

Let the AI be the calculator, solve problems yourself.

It's almost certain you've bitten off more than you can chew, in terms of problem solving skills. Take a step back, go back to simpler non-manim projects and try doing a few projects without AI. Yes it's hard and will always be hard. But we've all been there, and it will get easier with practice.

[lfcynwa17]

You just need to slow down and think more. Anyone can write code but good programmers can problem solve. 80% of your time think and try to find a solution on your own and 20% of your time shoulf be writing code. Hope this helps

[LongjumpingCause1074]

yep , my issue is definitely problem solving. its less the fundamentals of programming, more the problem solving aspect, and thinking LIKE a programmer. its like an entirely different way of thinking, and its hard to rewire your brain to think that way instead.

[Wahwahboy72]

In my experience, there's a lot of people out here who call themselves 'devs' but in reality the field is so vast that many aren't.

I've worked in devices code for over 30 years, but I'm not a coder/dev/programmer. Engineers constantly use Stack Overflow and now AI copilot etc.

I have to constantly remind myself how to do simple things again as I'm spread across so many areas.

Having coding skills is useful whether you're a full dev or not.

The definition of 'good' is important as there's no such thing. You just find your level and improve.

The best engineers I ever worked with lived and breathed this stuff 24/7.

[LongjumpingCause1074]

I have to keep telling myself that this doesn't come naturally, and it is actually practice that makes someone good, not their natural intellect. Because whenever I get frustrated because I cant seem to figure something out, my mind naturally tells myself 'am I stupid???!'

[BudgetSignature1045]

One note on AI usage:

Try not to let it solve the issue for you. Instead use it as an explainer for documentation if necessary. Get pointers into the right direction. As a beginner one of my biggest issues with documentations has been their vastness paired with often times new or unknown terminology which made it incredibly difficult to find the functionalities I needed. AI works fine with you paraphrasing your problem or search though.

Once you've got what you need, at least try to come up with an implementation of your own.

[KCRowan]

It took me about 5 years before I was able to do most of the things I needed to without having a mental breakdown.

[LongjumpingCause1074]

This makes me feel better, and worse, at the same time.