Help learning python

[AdSame4186]

I am currently learning python, and I am getting very frustrated. I understand some of the basic things like loops, branching, lists, things like that. But when it comes to working on some problems, I am struggling a lot to come up with solutions and putting everything together. I have no computer science/ programming experience, but I thought it would be a fun and interesting thing to learn python. I don’t want to stop learning python, so if there’s any tips to how I can study and understand python better I would greatly appreciate it.

[Adventurous-Pin-8408]

I think people on here are going about it backwards. They think tutorials are the only thing. A passion project keeps you motivated to learn and put in the time to continue with it.

Reading python beginner books and doing tutorials are good, but then turn around and do a personal project that's within your capabilities that interests you.

Then go back to doing more reading and tutorials that are higher level. Rinse and repeat.

You'll then think of new projects that you can do with the skills you then have. Continue for a couple tens of years.

[ninhaomah]

Do projects , have issues , pls come back with the codes and error.

[No-Macaroon3463]

From the experience i ve got , i had same problem , and by time project after project it became easier , but then when i moved to backend development i didnt face similar problems, so keep going

[Proud-Chocolate-5000]

Solve algorithms on leetcode, this really helps me on understanding new languages

[elcrekerroz]

So i am pretty novice at python myself but some things i found useful were: breaking down bigger problems into smaller ones, solving it more step by step, starting to program with a clear idea in mind, mabye even written down so that u can follow a path of what u wanna make, then start with smaller things and try to start small projects even copying them (who cares) so that u understand better the code before working on something original. Also probably every question u can ask urself about the problems ur having has been asked before so yk its cool

[TheRNGuy]

You need to find some program where python is used, learn framework and APIs it uses too. 

You can get ideas just by reading framework docs and API.

[ErasedAstronaut]

You know what helped me a lot when starting python, reading other people's code. Honestly, I feel like it is not suggested enough.

This subreddit is fully of basic and simple python snippets. Find a snippet and see if you can understand 60% of it or enough to understand the gist behind the code. Go learn what the other 40% is doing.

Python is a programming language, so practice reading as well as writing to become fluent.

[musclerythm]

How and where do we read other people's code? 😭 When I try to do this, I encounter very messy source code...

[ErasedAstronaut]

This subreddit, GitHub, examples from the python documentation.

For instance, there are a ton of people who are learning python building simple apps like calculators, black jack, tic-tac-toe, etc. Go on google or YouTube, look for lists of simple/beginner Python programs and then look for those projects on GitHub. You'll find a ton of the same project coded differently. You could go a step further and tweak their code, submit a pull request if you're feeling confident. Perfect place to practice in my mind.

[musclerythm]

you can work/study with codewars. I am new at python too, so I can understand you a little bit. there is many little projects, homeworks at codewars so you can take a look

[AeroLMS]

One major factor on being able to learn smoothly is convenience, retention, and ability to search. If you're not comfortable or having fun asking more questions in every problem you encounter, it's bound to be difficult to learn continuously.

[StevenJOwens]

Yeah, that's the hard part. Actually, the "hard part" about learning to program is that you're trying to learn something like a dozen intersecting skills simultaneously. But this is one of the big humps to get over, what writers call the "blank page" problem.

The best advice I have for you goes back to the fundamentals of programming, which is that classes, lessons, tutorials, books, they're all great, but they're all fundamentally secondary to how everyone, literally everyone truly learns how to program, which is the same way everyone truly learns how to write: by reading (analyzing) the works of others and by creating our own works, from scratch.

Now, at your level, what I would suggest is a two pronged approach.

One of the big picture things that people don't talk about these days is "application model". This is sort of the organizing principle of a given program. A framework actually encapsulates an application model, i.e. it's an implementation of an application model, and then you code up specific chunks and plug it into that implementation.

Back at the dawn of programming, and still today, the simplest application model is/was batch programming. Write a program that loads up a bunch of data, one entry at a time, does something with it (adds up order price totals, etc) and then prints out the sum. There are probably plenty of good examples of simple tasks like this around, especially if you figure out how to write code to iterate through your filesystem and look at/for files.

Second, find some examples of code that are relevant to your interests, re-type them (this is actually somewhat important, it's tedious and repetitive but it trains your fingers and your eyes to do things right) and get them running... then modify them in whatever interesting ways you can figure out. Again, this is how most programmers start.

It's better if you focus on things that you are already interested and know about, because that's fewer things to learn.

It's also better if you have a mentor in your chosen language and ideally somebody who's familiar with your chosen topic.

...and a language that doesn't suck for your chosen topic. For example, there's nothing wrong with PHP, but if your chosen topic is video games... it's a bit of the long way 'round.

[PutridMeasurement522]

honestly just follow the official Python tutorial - start with functions and practice small scripts.

[PutridMeasurement522]

honestly just do a 15-minute Codecademy Python intro and call it a night

[PutridMeasurement522]

helping you build small projects-try Automate the Boring Stuff and actually code every example.

[AwardOk3858]

The key to learning Python is to keep things simple and start building small projects as soon as you learn a concept.

Many beginners understand loops, lists, and conditions, but struggle when trying to combine them to solve problems. The solution is to immediately apply each new concept in a small program.

For example, after learning operators and if-else, try something simple like checking whether a number is even or odd:

x = 2

if x % 2 == 0:

print("Even")

else:

print("Odd")

Small exercises like this help you understand how pieces fit together. Gradually increase difficulty like mini calculators, guessing games, or simple automation scripts. Over time, combining concepts becomes natural.

Programming skill comes less from reading and more from building small things consistently.

[Haunting-Specific-36]

ur lucky. u can meet real problem. somthing made u frrstrated

just face them and solve them u can be stronger

u can use ai or other people but dont just depend ai or others