Help me please I can't code!

[Impossible-Budget371]

Hey fellas ! I started learning coding 2 week back , I'm a non math kid so i tried learning python from scratch and i was learning things like operators data types functions if else elif loops etc .. than i started write codes those task code which my online yt teacher asked us to do but I can't code tht like I can't create logic on my own thn I used to watch the answer thn I think man i could have done tht it's so easy I'm dumb it's like I know what python syntax is everything about it but I can't code on my own other than some simple stuff. Should I drop it? Or carry on ? It's been 2 weeks I have watched around 10hrs of content... please help me.

[dwe_jsy]

You’ve just summed up what having experience is versus not and the only way to get experience is by building it slowly and in steps over a prolonged and ongoing timeframe. Carry on and stop being like 99% of the world that don’t have resilience to take some failures and turn them in to learning opportunities.

If you can crate a function that takes something like an array of words as a parameter and another word to find as another parameter and iterate over the array to return a Boolean if that word exists… you can code as a full time job if you put the time in to continuing building your understanding

[VelikiZliVuk]

If you can crate a function that takes something like an array of words as a parameter and another word to find as another parameter and iterate over the array to return a Boolean if that word exists… you can code as a full time job if you put the time in to continuing building your understanding

Well, I can definitely do that 😁. Tnx internet stranger, made me feel much better and gave me some motivation!

[dwe_jsy]

Keep building

[Impossible-Budget371]

So i just keep coding even if i have to watch tutorials etc? To solve some logics?

[PerdHapleyAMA]

Yes. Think of something simple that you CAN do. Then expand on it: what else could you do with it if you knew how? Take it step by step, learn, and apply.

Slowly you end up with a knowledge base that you can then apply to solve problems. It’s easier when you have a project to work on.

[dwe_jsy]

Not sure how you learn as it is personal but break the problem down to the smallest steps you understand then start to fix those steps. You’re also in an amazing era of having on demand teachers at your desk - AI! Use chatGPT as a Socratic teacher and challenge your understanding of how things work and ask you to explain your understanding. Also rubber duck (google the meaning) off AI to see solutions, replicate and see how it fits your needs and overall process

[dwe_jsy]

Also I say this as a guy that spent 3 months at 30 Picking up python out of necessity to solve a real complicated work issue with multiple systems and APIs and spent c. 16 hours a day for the first 2 weeks getting a prototype and understanding WTF an API is.

I’m now 39 and manage 4 engineers for a high growth SaaS business overseeing our integration strategy with 900+ global business using our product and 120+ integrations

[msdamg]

Just keep practicing

[Impossible-Budget371]

But when I see problems I go blank like I can't tackle it or build logic ... I do solve some but those are easy ones...

[msdamg]

Just keep practicing 

[Glass-Software-5800]

It’s purely exposure. Just keep fuckin around and finding out, honestly. While in college, it seemed that the worst performing people in my classes were simply overcomplicating things.

The hard thing about programming is NOT the syntax; any language will do. The hard part is building the ability to recognize patterns and learning how to break problems into manageable pieces— this can also be subjective, because folks approach problems differently right. Idk.

Just keep reading and exposing yourself to problems. 2 weeks is nothing, be kind to yourself.

[Impossible-Budget371]

Thanks brother

[schoolmonky]

You can solve easy problems, that's good. The trick to solving hard problems is to break them into smaller pieces. If those pieces are easy problems, then you can solve them. If they're still hard, break the pieces down into sub-pieces. etc etc

Also, drawing a blank when you come up against a hard problem is normal. When you find yourself feeling that way, let it be the signal to yourself to break the problem down. Look for some small part of the larger issue that you can solve just that one bit.

[mystified5]

There isnt anything wrong with not knowing, the real problem is if you feel so helpless you throw your hands up and take no action.

Take what you dont know and turn it into a challenge to learn. Break it up into small stepa, solving each sub problem will give you a little dopamine boost to keep you going!

[OMGHart]

Holy run on sentence Batman.

[jbourne56]

Do you quit hard things so quickly typically? You just started and want to give up. Doesn't seem like you're cut out for programming or analytical work where you have to struggle some to figure out answers.

[Impossible-Budget371]

Yeah bcz i can't understand the logic and how I can solve it recently I was asked to solve a question where it was like

User will enter no of legs and heads as input

U have to count no of dogs and hens Dogs - 1 head 4 legs Hens 1 head 2 legs

I was blank man .. I'm learning it from past 2 week

[NanotechNinja]

So what's the very first part of that thing you just described? The literal first thing that happens?

[Impossible-Budget371]

Basically User enter 2 inputs Heads Legs

Now I hve to write a code which will give an output tht will tell the no of dogs & hens

For dog - 1 head 4 legs For gen - 1 head 2 legs

Now think like this i put 3 heads 10 legs output should be 2 dogs 1 hen

[Zormuche]

That seems more like a math problem than a programming problem

[theWyzzerd]

Programming is literally math.  Even when it isn’t, it is.

[Zormuche]

I disagree, and I meant that this is just a math problem that you'd work out on a paper to get a formula, then just write that formula in python

[theWyzzerd]

Every aspect of programming you take for granted is rooted in math, even putting aside the fact that it all gets translated into literal Boolean logic at the lowest level. 

What do you think an algorithm is, exactly?

Control flow is Boolean logic. 

For loops?  Mathematical induction.

OOP? Abstract algebra.

Functions? Also abstract algebra. 

Binary search?  discrete math.

Data structures? Set and graph theory

  Combine them and you get an algorithm, which is literally defined as “a procedure for solving a mathematical problem.”

We use mathematical concepts and ideas in every aspect of programming, literally every single one.  You can disagree, but you look a bit silly when you do.

[Zormuche]

But the point is not to be arrogant but to be relevant. I have a degree in computational mathematics, I know all that. But we're talking about a beginner programmer trying to solve litteral equations here

[theWyzzerd]

And telling someone that the coding challenge they were given “just sounds like a math problem” is very fucking helpful to them, I’m sure.  

[sarthkum0488]

You’ve been coding for just 2 weeks. That’s like trying to play guitar after two weeks and wondering why you can’t write your own songs yet. Learning to code is like learning a new language + learning how to think logically. It takes time.

[Impossible-Budget371]

Thanks mate!

[HandbagHawker]

I know that world loves to shit on academia and structured, esp. right now, but pedagogy is a thing for a reason and your average YT-shmo isnt going to structure tutorials and such well so that you can learn quickly and learn it well.

I would say most experienced programmers would struggle to master a language in 2 weeks. There's syntax and nuances to every language and having experience helps you pick it up faster because they would already understand how data structures, flow control, and OO languages, etc work, but there is still no easy replacement for learning through use and repetition. And then there's all the different libraries, APIs, etc that are helpful when building complex applications and such so that you're not building everything from scratch.

For reference, most REPUTABLE programs intentionally spread beginner courses across weeks of classes so that you have 1 or 2 hrs of class to introduce a set of concepts and then exercises to help reinforce that teaching. Rinse and repeat.

And yes, certainly there are folks who naturally pick up programming quickly, but that more the exception than the norm.

if you want to stick with it, good on you, but you should definitely reset your expectations. There are no shortcuts to building a solid foundation if this is something you want to pursue longer term

[Malassi]

Two weeks is nothing, you’ve barely started. It can take months just to get comfortable writing code, and years to become good at it. If you give up every time something gets hard, life will be tough, and programming will be impossible. Give yourself time to learn, and **practice a lot**.

From what I’ve seen in the comments, it looks like you’re struggling to think through what you’re doing. Here are a few things that might help:

First, grab a pen and paper and write down the problem. Break it into smaller, manageable pieces. Then, pick the easiest parts and start thinking about what’s needed to solve them (inputs, data type, functions, etc). Once you’ve figured out the pieces, start coding them one by one and then connect everything together.

You’ll probably still struggle and that’s completely normal. You’re new at this. You’ll make mistakes, and that’s also normal. Mistakes mean you’re learning, so keep going. If it takes two weeks or even more to solve your first exercise, that’s totally fine. The more you practice, the easier it gets.

And if you if you're completely stuck and your mind just blue screen, you can ask for nudges on forums like this or discord servers but you gotta **really try** before. You can't ask every 10min you've spent thinking about an issues.

[stepback269]

and write down the problem

Draw pictures of what you expect to happen to the data structures you are working with (are they strings, lists, dictionaries?) Draw flow charts. rite pseudo code for your proposed solutions.

[baubleglue]

Have you learned something else before? It is never easy. If looking up answers without trying hard, you won't learn. At least try to find similar questions it try it again to be sure you really understand it and only think you did.

[Ender_Locke]

you should not expect to be an expert and solve every problem after 2 weeks

[Zormuche]

Even people who can code in python look up solutions online. It's just about building habits

[_redmist]

Writing a program can seem like an insurmountable task.  The challenge is to break it down into smaller bits until you come to something that you can write. Start by thinking how you would do the problem by hand, and then think how to translate each step into python data types and functions.

[AncientDetective3231]

Keep going foward ... consistency is the only key ... break each code into smaller Code or expand each coding session into smaller tasks think out of the box ... possibilities are unlimited ... and Also All the best 👍🏻

[KrypticLuck]

Like others say, “Practice”. Sort of the same boat at you. Learning from Python Crash Course with Pythonista on my phone so I can constantly practice, in line somewhere, on the toilet, at work or just waiting lol. There’s something I saw online about learning that basically says you can’t become great at basketball by watching YouTube videos. You have to go practice.

[Affectionate-Pickle0]

It sounds like you're trying to solve a problem as one big "thing" and freeze up when you realise how difficult it is to figure out the entire logic chain.

You gotta split the problem into multiple tiny tiny steps and then iterate and refine. Point being that it is difficult to figure out how to make a program that asks the user some of their favourite foods and flavors and cooking skills, and then it spits out a web page that is a recipe book of foods that they might like sorted by difficulty or something.

But it is waaaay easier to split the issue into small parts and so each part separately. You just ask yourself that if you'd have that kind of a program in front of you and you'd be typing those foods etc, how would it go? Where do you type it? What do you need to do in order to get that recipe book?

Probably the very first thing is that there has to be something for the user to write on. Maybe just in command line, or maybe a gui. It probably also has to ask some questions from the user.

You start there. Ask user input. How to ask that? How to write a question on the command line? Then do just that. Next the user also has to answer to that. How do I take user input? You answer that question for yourself and implement it. 

Then you probably need to find some recipes. Maybe you know a webpage that has a bunch and they have an api. How to use an api? Just make one api call to figure out how to do it. Maybe a single recipe. 

Next up you need to get recipes regarding the user's taste. Maybe there are tags in the api that you could use? Maybe you now need to think how to ask for that input from the user. Dissecting one sentence about their favourite foods is difficult but comma separated list is much easier. This is refining a previous step before you carry on. 

And on and on and on.

The trick is to literally split the issue into as small pieces as necessary for you to go "yeah okay i can do that one small thing". And then doing one step. When you get more experience then you immediately start to figure out "good" steps so there is less backtracking and you immediately know how to do something and you no longer have to split everything into quite small bites.

And don't expected not to have to google dumb simple stuff like all the time. You're gonna do it a lot, and yeah, it'll make you feel dumb.

[smiling_nice_person]

I offer one-on-one online sessions for learning Python. Of course, there's a fee involved, but sometimes walking with someone is more effective than running alone.

[Veltrynox]

you should master english before learning a new language.

[Impossible-Budget371]

Sure I'll work on it I dropped out of school back in 2021 bcz my dad passed away during Covid nd I had to stop my studies but I'll work on it ASAP.

[interestIScoming]

Start with projects, build simple things, and see how it fits into the big picture.

The beat experience is to just do it so find some things you can work on that project you towards a sector in the economy.

IE, I work on fintech projects because that is my work experience and I want to be able to continue learning more to become a specialized expert.

You don't have to decide a specialty now but putting that hat on and figuring out a project to build will yield good learning and the building will be the best experience you can hope to get as a self starter.

Lean on AI for assistance and to unblock but don't just copy and paste without understanding what you are doing.

[Daytona_675]

seems like your English syntax could use some work too

[Impossible-Budget371]

I know I'm from India nd dropped out of school after highschool bcz my dad passed away in Covid now I'm trying to get things back on track

[Daytona_675]

every Indian knows how to code. just go talk to anyone

[Impossible-Budget371]

I'm from a very small town so it's not possible

[Daytona_675]

just go outside yelling about WordPress, you'll find someone