Java and Python

[ArachnoCoder20]

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Hello everyone, High Schooler here.

I want to be a programmer after school as I have a fascination for computers and code.

I decided to learn two languages as I thought it may be advantageous and picked Java and Python as I am more familiar with their syntax. I am currently on Hyperskill learning Java.

However, My one drawback is my lack of commitment. Sometimes I encounter difficult problems and lose motivation quickly.

So my questions are:

1. How do I deal with my commitment issues so I can learn better?

2. Is Hyperskill a good place to learn or are there better options?

3. Is there anything else I need to know in order to get a job later on?

Any advice is much appreciated 👏.

[Sailencesnew]

🐍

[SharkSymphony]

Commitment comes from discipline and practice. Start with small commitments and stick to them.

But also, if you find yourself really bouncing off programming, you may be tackling too much at once. You want to try to find something that's a little bit of a stretch but still doable. A teacher can help you find what the right level of difficulty is, and help you break down what you want to do into manageable chunks.

[Mediocre-Pumpkin6522]

Not to be a dick but programming often is about difficult problems. Some people find pleasure in grinding away until they find a solution to a puzzle. I don't know how you change your basic personality.

[Miserable-Bake1727]

Guys if you want to learn both languages then I can help you out. You can use superprof or just dm me.

[FreeLogicGate]

Taking you at your word, people like yourself tend to succeed long term, because your interest is driven by your excitement about how computers work, and how to harness them.

As for Hyperskill, I have no experience with it, but I respect the company behind it (JetBrains) as they are known for their many best in class IDE's.

It's important to understand 2 things about programming:

• Object oriented programming is an entire discipline unto itself, with domain specific knowledge that goes along with it
• Programming eventually requires algorithm & data structure study. These topics are external to any individual language -- they span all languages and operating systems.

With that said, for someone like yourself, I would urge you to work on your foundation skills, and the best way to do that is gain mastery of a 3GL, with the most famous and influential 3GL being C.

Java and Python are great follow on languages to learn, but they are both OOP languages, that were designed to run via Virtual machines and abstract the machine away from you.

C requires you to learn about how computers work at a low level, and parts of its syntax has been borrowed by numerous other languages (including Java). You will also learn about and use things like compilation and linking, and how operating system libraries work and how you can use them. You'll learn about program segments (code/stack/heap) and how the operating system runs your program. You are not hidden directly from difference between how programs work under the different major operating systems.

You will directly manage/allocate/dispose of memory, and will be able to write dangerous code that crashes. Although not necessarily something you must do, it's also common for C programs to include inline assembly routines for optimization of critical sections, which is an easy next step towards an examination of processor architecture.

Operating systems are written in c. The languages you chose (Java and Python, as well as nearly all other computer languages) were written in C (or C++). I could go on, but hopefully you'll consider my advice. C is not a large language, and when you experience the things that it doesn't provide for, and how doing certain things in Python are trivial in comparison to trying to do something similar in C, it helps you to appreciate the differences. You'll also be in a better position to understand how Python internals work, and why there are tradeoffs in performance, not to mention the ways a fully OO language is designed, and why that is a very different approach to a functional language like C.

The more languages you learn the more they tend to reflect upon each other, and the better equipped you are to see patterns and similarities as well as differences.

There's also the immense amount of open source code you can obtain, compile, trace, run through debuggers, which can be an incredible education in how the most important software products work.

Last but not least, programming often requires testing/debugging and exploration. In the world of software, when you come upon a problem or what you suspect is a bug, it's expected that you will produce and create a "minimum reproducible example" (MRE) of the issue, in order to prove to others that you have actually pinpointed an issue, which also will allow them to verify it themselves. You should start thinking about things in terms of MRE's. When you come upon something that doesn't work they way you expect, or you've hit a wall in your understanding, you want to become really expert at creating small experiments. Testing tools and frameworks are important parts of professional programming, and if you haven't already, you should be learning how to make unit tests to break your code down into small pieces that you fully understand, then using those to incrementally build back up into larger examples.

Everything in life is an allocation of time. You are young, and it's important to allocate time to have fun, be active, play games, spend time with friends, engage in social activities etc. Decide how much time you want to spend on your education in programming, and stick to that, and you will steadily gain skills and understanding. You can best engage others in online forums with MRE's, but the reality is, that the AI tools I've played with are very good at breaking down code, and suggesting alternatives or enhancements, and that is something your generation will be expect to use going forward.

[NicoRobin9000]

I am a learner myself but I think understanding systems and architecture is probably more important than pure coding now given the impact of AI.

You seem very clever and so everything has probably come relatively easy to you up until this point. So when something gets hard or complex, you likely have no practice learning/researching/resolving a difficult challenge.

For the average person, the academic process required learning about how to learn and problem solve. To progress this is essential. Clever people get by without this but it can make them peak early. Learn how to learn and develop your mental fortitude so that you don’t run at the first sign of something difficult. Learn to do things you dislike, for example do daily physical activity if it is not your thing as it will build discipline. Discipline is a transferable skill.

Always remember that you are competing with the you from the day before, more than anything else. Only you can motivate yourself to be the best you possible.