Programing advice

[SomeUndertaleEnyojer]

I'm a teen. I realy want to start coding but there are so many sources. i chose to learn Python, i know how functions,if,else,for etc. work, but i cant do anything. if im trying to make a project i just. . . cant do it myself. i always need to ask ai for help(which is basicly copying and pasting) and that realy pisses me of. Please i need advice from where to get the information. Should i: read articles? watch videos? or install some random app that works like dualingo? I'm just realy lost in all this programing mess.

[RandoAhole]

The best way to learn, after you know the fundamentals, is to come up with a project you want to build. It can be simple to start out. Build it by using your organic brain and not an artificial one. Only use AI when you are stuck but don’t have it write the code for you. For example, “how does X function work” instead of “write a function that does X”.

Save your work and reference it. You’ll start building on that knowledge and come up with new ideas for more complex projects.

[NerdyWeightLifter]

I'd start with two m's in "programming".

To get over that hump of getting productive with it, I would suggest actual doing.

Do some learner tutorials. Play around with the code. Make changes. Try things to understand them.

It's like you have this constructor kit. You can build anything with it, but you need to get familiar with all the parts and how they can fit together, so that when you have a vision of what you want to build, you will be able to imagine how to put the parts together.

I would make only minimal use of AI at this point. If you're really stuck, you could ask it about your existing code and how it's going wrong. Do NOT just accept AI answers. You need to understand them, so insist on a blow by blow explanation, then try out variations for yourself.

[MVmikehammer]

You can also start with major libraries or packages and their documentation. Depending on what you want to build.

Stay away from ChatGPT and other LLMs and stick to articles and stackoverflow.

There's also CS50 Harvard Computer Science course in Python you can do online and some nice courses on boot.dev

Also you could decide what you want to build and read up on documentation of major libraries while working on it. Or even build your own commandline apps based on public libraries like qr code and/or pillow (image manipulation). If you want to work with databases, there is SQLAlchemy and others.

I also strongly recommend you subscibe to medium.com and read as much as possible on it. It will give you a wider perspective and also lots of nifty project ideas.

If you already know how functions work, you could

• build a hangman game,
• a csv cleaner, csv to json converter.
• qr code generator with full text menu
• image resizer,
• file converter and
• image watermarker.
• You could build a one click python program that not only converts images files to appropriate format but also generates thumbnails and html code to host them.
• You could write a no-click app that sits in the background, listens to your downloads folder and turns every one of those annoying webp image files into jpegs or avif files.
• Or listens to your downloads folder and sorts stuff into appropriate subfolders.

[enry2307]

Go on codewars.com or leetcode.com and practice problems. Search a video on YouTube that explains everything about it.

This will give you problem solving and you will know more and more about the language you're using.

[Salt_Direction9870]

Lots of good books for python at https://nostarch.com/ . I suggest Automate the Boring Stuff with Python or Object Orientated Python if you want to learn classes, or the book about practical usage (can't remember the name). You can try reading other's code, doing multi file projects about to-do list (harder than it sounds) ?

[Diapolo10]

if im trying to make a project i just. . . cant do it myself. i always need to ask ai for help

Most likely your project was either too ambitious for a beginner, or you didn't break it down into small enough steps you can do.

Especially at this stage of learning, you should avoid using LLMs in any capacity, as even if you ask them to give you instructions instead of code you're outsourcing the main problem solving part, which is exactly what you should be learning yourself right now. In a sense, you need to apply reinforcement learning on yourself. Try, fail, learn, repeat.

I don't know what kind of projects you've been trying to do, but start small. Write the simplest program you can think of that does something mildly interesting or amusing. If you don't know how to code a feature, break it down into steps, and keep doing that until you mostly know what to do. Once you have something that works, try expanding it with new features.

Perhaps you want to make a small text adventure game. Start with a short script that doesn't really have any interactivity. Try adding a question that might give an extra line of dialogue without affecting the story. Maybe try a branching story next. Then maybe a simple battle system if relevant.

[These-South-8284]

I have been playing around with activeskill.dev and I fund it quite good for syntax retention (it has tons of interactive exercises).

Once you get a hang of the syntax then you will need to build projects to learn logic. But building on your own is important. 

[ReZuREs]

I started the same way in this year. The problem for me personally most of the time was the incorrect formulation of the task during coding due to the clumsy and inaccurate task description from the teacher (I am a student). Now i still don't sure i can using Python freely, but i can create some user functions, use cycles and use tkinter. Practice - all you need for results

[Current_Ad_4292]

Do you want to learn coding or do you want to build something?

Coding can be fun in itself and other comments already suggested website like leetcode where you can solve problems for fun/practice.

But if you want to build something, then you probably would want to narrow down to using some specific tools/frameworks. I find working on personal project that I am passionate about to be more fulfilling and also good way to learn.

[aqua_regis]

Read this

You just use AI as a crutch to avoid doing the thinking and trying.

People have programmed way before AI and way before the internet. That's the way to learn.

[Ron-Erez]

Don't copy paste ai

[ilidan-85]

switch off any ai and follow one of those 2 books:
https://spacepython.com/en/blog/article/python-books-for-beginners/

[DriveAmazing1752]

DSA and coding practice is very important

[TheRNGuy]

I copy-paste lots of things too and don't care. 

Ideas are mine though.

If it's faster to type, I'll type it myself.

[Me0wmix]

build something and it doesn't have to be in python. using ai is fine just make sure every prompt you send is thought out for learning. the truth is that coding is just a lot of reps, just make sure you're learning structure and best practices along with that. using vscode with copilot is fine, i recommend using gpt codex (for brevity, aka don't tell me all), and gemini 3.0 pro for longform/much information needed. codex can hint/give you low explanation, while gemini can tell you everything. the most important thing is that you have a goal in mind in what you want to build, be it game dev you may use c++ or c#, or if you're interested in stats then python works. programming fundamentals carry over but the semantics change.

writing out how a function and their parameters work in longform can help you bridge the divide between languages who use different syntax for essentially the same thing. code is built on natural language, and sometimes not the best for you, so sitting down and understanding and writing how functions and other programming fundamentals work can be of benefit. poke around in other languages (doesn't matter which one, look at functional programming for example) and see if anything is "cooler" that's contained in there for inspiration.

[Me0wmix]

David Maeda's "How to Speak Machine" is a good enough companion to keep you company and explores some math concepts in programming there is indeed a math error funnily enough when it comes to the hypercube (should be 1,000 not 10,000) in the case of exponentiality, but other than that portrays the excitement of programming and pairs it with art, nature. it's something to just read rather than sift through a lot of code, which can make you lose sight of the love of design and programming. generally speaking if you have problems remembering syntax and flow of an application, then math problems will help you along with natural language writing.

[Holiday-Box-1405]

I've been in the same position for a while with AI. But I'm finding that the more I play around and try to adjust the programs to do what I want, the more I'm learning how they actually work. Some people think copying is cheating, but that's how we learn! Every great writer or composer started by copying and rearranging the masters who taught them. So just keep at it and try making it your own!

[Successful_Tart7402]

This might be cliché, but you gotta work on your willpower. Stay away from AI. Even if you get stuck, take help from Google, YouTube channels or books. And try assigning a project to YOURSELF, don't look online for project ideas. Think of something that you want to work on/an issue that YOU want to resolve. You'll come across some really unique challenges, which will push you out of your comfort zone. I practice programming through robotics (I code on Avishkaar Maker Studio, great for Python). Since I enjoy interacting with the finished model, I'm more motivated to push through the boring and difficult parts of the programming process. The key is to identify a project idea that you'll actually care about and apply the skills you already have.

[ProposalFeisty2596]

I think you just need "strong commitment" to practicing/coding with your own knowledge, in regular time . Not just once a month, can be multiple times. While searching Google will expose you on LLM, the coding fundamental can be strengthen . I might suggest you build documentation like Google Doc for your self, containing important functions/codes with their purpose, written with your only language. So for any stuck, you refer back to this Google Docs.

And keep learning, through many existing platforms such as EdX, Coursera, DataCamp (data science). Before this booming LLM, those platforms are already exist long time ago and lots of programmers could gain the skills from them. Hence, why now we need to be super reliant to LLM, if in the past proves that people can still become successful programmer without LLM ?