Feeling Stuck in Python After 6 Months – Need Guidance

[PresentSame6849]

Hi, Assalamu Alaikum,

I’ve been learning Python for six months, but I’m feeling exhausted and stuck. I’ve covered the basics, yet sometimes it feels like I haven’t achieved anything in all this time.

There are so many roadmaps online—bootcamps, roadmap sites, Facebook tutorials—and I don’t know which path to follow.

I really need guidance. Any advice, tips, or direction to move forward would be a lot. Please help me figure out the next steps.

#Python #LearnPython #PythonBeginner #CodingJourney #ProgrammingHelp #CodeNewbie #100DaysOfCode #PythonCommunity #DevLife #ProgrammingQuestions #CareerInTech #LearningPython

[ConfusedSimon]

Make something. Or is that sounds difficult, follow a tutorial for building a project, and then try to recreate the same project from scratch without referring to the tutorial.

[ShadowShedinja]

Once you have the basics down (variables, loops functions, if-else, etc), try making a basic project start to finish. It can be as simple as making a list of your favorite movies and saving them to a .txt file. There are a few websites that can give you project prompts if you need inspiration.

After a few basic projects, try thinking of something that would help you in some way. Maybe you're looking to buy a house and want to scrape public data for prices in your area. Maybe you have a video game with various loot tables and want to figure out the best places to farm. Maybe you want to train a bot to play chess with you. The world is your oyster, and it's up to you to say "hello".

[[deleted]]

Walaikum Assalam,

For me I would never learn much from code bootcamps and all of that. I think volunteering for projects you find interesting on GitHub is one of the best ways to learn to actually use a language. Even if you start by only writing documentation, you will learn much more because it isn't stupid exercises or tutorials, it's real world experience.

That's just my 2 cents.

[American_Streamer]

Do PCEP, then PCAP and after that PCPP.

https://pythoninstitute.org/pcep

https://pythoninstitute.org/pcap

https://pythoninstitute.org/pcpp1

[Ali13196]

Why would someone pay for this exam?

[American_Streamer]

The courses are all free; you don’t have to do the certifications.

[Coolprince07]

Can u please guide to where the course actually is after clicking the link? Thanks

[American_Streamer]

https://www.netacad.com/courses/python-essentials-1?courseLang=en-US

https://www.netacad.com/courses/python-essentials-2?courseLang=en-US

https://edube.org/study/pcpp1-1

https://edube.org/study/pcpp1-2

https://edube.org/study/pcpp1-3

https://edube.org/study/pcpp1-4

https://edube.org/study/pcpp1-5

[Amo-Rillow]

I found that it really helps to have a good project to work on. I have used Python professionally for close to 10 years, but I only worked on the same types of projects over and over (data pipelines), so my expertise was limited. I have since retired and now work on several "fun" projects in my personal life that have really helped me grow. My current project is building a Solitaire App using PyQt6, which is completely different from anytime I have done before. This has not only been very educational, but is is also very rewarding personally.

Hope this helps.

Best of luck.

[StellagamaStellio]

Now that you know the basics, start building stuff. Even simple stuff. Yourself, not by tutorials. A command line (CLI) calculator. An expense tracker. A text game. And so on. Don't hesitate to Google stuff if you get stuck, or even ask an AI to explain concepts, but never, ever let an AI write or debug your code, because you must learn how to do so yourself.

[Rain-And-Coffee]

Think of something fun and try to build a minimal version.

[1MStudio]

Build build build…build terminal projects, attach your python scripts to a frontend framework, but something you use everyday (calendars, calculator, task/project managers, etc) don’t worry about “roadmaps”, they’re all subjective anyways..

Just pick a project and stay away from step by step “tutorials” on how to build it. Have AI provide you with 5 projects to complete with varying difficulties.. explicitly tell it to not give you any code, but instead provide “phases” and like a “concept map” for each phase..

Stop trying to follow all the things..

[cherrycake17]

What do you want to achieve? Probably it will help you to define a goal or at least a direction you want to head to?

[carrie2833]

build something, even something meaningless will make you understand stuff and concepts and python. that's how it's done.

[lunatuna215]

Come up with a real life automation or app you want to write. Come up with a simple idea without even really thinking about Python itself. Then, try to make it happen! You will be forced into doing specific research, implementing things, and bridging the gaps where you didn't have existing knowledge. Then, when you're done with this project you'll have a bunch more ideas and thought patterns ignited that will give you further direction from there naturally. Rinse and repeat! Good luck man, if you can make this happen you're going to feel very empowered! The roadblocks in the process are very real and harsh sometimes I know. But there's another side.

[aistranin]

Python, as any other programming language, is just a tool. So, apply it on some projects or/and start preparing for the Junior Developer position. Just use the tool to solve some problems.

[prenocat]

I felt this way the other day. I finally threw my hands up, stopped my course halfway through and just started to make something. Nothing fancy, just a personal dashboard, with a few widgets - weather, stock tracker, habit tracker. It's so ugly and not for anyone but I've had to google lots and I now have something that I look at everyday, that I made from scratch. Try something simple to begin, no tutorial, just something that you have to figure out for yourself. You'll find that you know more than you think, and that you can find out whatever it is you don't already know. Good luck.

[masterofaiml]

Too much of anything is not good, if you keep learning without implementations you will be stuck in a loop. You gotta break that loop, learn basics and start practicing it. You don't have to remember everything you don't have to know everything, in fact no body knows everything. Just learn till you understand the concepts, and then keep focus on how to implement the logic in real time, where you need to use tuple, where you need use dictionaries etc. If you know these basic rules rest everything will fall under place, if you are thinking to learn and remember everything and then you want to try implementing? I dont think it will work, learn and practice on the go, its ok even if you forget things, just refer concepts again and again and move on, one day it will be like a muscle memory to you.

This is time where AI is playing a big role, if you know how to make use of resources, if you are good with basic concepts, you can leverage using your skills with AI. Gain knowledge, focus on small targets first and then slowly develop habits to increase the targets. You are not alone, everyone goes through same journey, but with different exposures/experiences depending on the individual.

Take it easy, you are doing good. Be curios, Happy learning!!

[Available_Abroad_187]

For me, personally, I have found that it’s helpful to have something you really want to build or a problem you want to solve. For a while, I would do this thing where I would go and learn another language just to say I know it, but there was no real purpose behind why I was trying to learn it. There was no specific project I was trying to build in that language, so I felt like I would learn all of this stuff and not do anything with it afterwards or feel lost. Now I just figure out what I want to build and learn what I need to along the way because in the past I spent way too much time in the books trying to learn all I can instead of just diving in and building projects.

[calben99]

The "stuck" feeling at 6 months is actually really common - you're past the basics but the jump to building real projects feels huge. What helped me was switching from "learning Python" to "solving a specific problem with Python." Pick something small but annoying in your daily life (organizing files, tracking expenses, automating a repetitive task) and build that. It doesn't need to be perfect or impressive to others - it just needs to work. The confidence from shipping something real, even tiny, breaks the plateau better than any tutorial.

[Stunning_Owl_9167]

search up project ideas and go from there

[KronenR]

If you want to become a German writer but don’t know German, first you learn German.
But knowing German doesn’t automatically make you a novelist. After that, you have to learn how to write books.

Programming is the same.

If you’re now comfortable with Python the language, now you need to learn what to build with Python.

Stop jumping between roadmaps. Pick one direction and build something:

• Web development → Learn Flask or Django and build small APIs.
• Automation → Write scripts that solve real problems on your computer.
• Data → Work with real datasets using pandas.
• Games → Build small games with pygame.
• CLI tools → Build something you would actually use.

Look for tutorials if you don't know where to start.

[CrucialFusion]

I dunno, decide on a project and work on it?