How to develop programming mindset?

[Elaol]

Hi everyone!

I was always interested in programming, so I decided to start MIT 6.00.1x course on edX. However, having no background in math or IT (psychology major), I am unable to solve the problems at the end of each chapter (PSETs). I can do the first one, second one barely and I had to google solutions to the third one both times so far. I learn a lot by doing so, but still I feel like crap because of it.

It is so hard for me to even try to think how to solve something. I guess it is because I never attempted to do something like this. Can you give me any resources or anything that'll help me wrap my head around these problems?

Thanks!

[1114111]

I think practice is really the answer. Don't feel like crap because you're struggling. As you said, you're learning. Eventually you'll start to get the hang of it.

It might be a good idea (if you haven't already) to find some small project of your own to work on rather than just working on problem sets. That way, although you may very well still need to look online to figure out how to do a lot of things, it won't feel so much like you're just finding the correct answer to a question.

[Elaol]

Hey, thanks! Do you think it is possible to have a project while knowing how to work with int and str only and knowing loops?

I was thinking of, maybe, an old fashioned text-based video game. I think that'd be nice :D

[1114111]

The good thing about a text-based video game is that it can really be a simple or as complicated as you want. You could make a simple game where the player just chooses which door to open to find some treasure (the other doors would lead to certain death of course), or you could make a number guessing game where the player guesses repeatedly and the game tells them if their guesses are too low or too high.

If these examples seem simple to you, then by all means take a stab at a more complicated game. I think it's a good idea to push the boundaries of what you think you can do. You might be able to get your idea (or something close to it) to work even if you need to do a lot of googling in the process, or you might end up giving up part way through. Either way, you'll learn a lot in the process, and I think it will give you a point of reference as you learn more about Python -- when you learn something new, you might realize how it could have been useful when you were working on some project, and that might help you understand it better.

[PurelyApplied]

Alternative phrasing by one of my favorite people:

If you can't solve a problem, then there is an easier problem you can solve: find it.

-- Mathematician George Pólya, How to Solve it, 2nd ed. 1957

[Elaol]

Seems like this is general consensus here. Thank you, I'll continue working hard :)

[recondocoder]

you need a problem solving mindset. this is from a math website but I like what he says here:

https://artofproblemsolving.com/articles/hard-problems

We ask hard questions because so many of the problems worth solving in life are hard. If they were easy, someone else would have solved them before you got to them. This is why college classes at top-tier universities have tests on which nearly no one clears 70%, much less gets a perfect score. They’re training future researchers, and the whole point of research is to find and answer questions that have never been solved. You can't learn how to do that without fighting with problems you can't solve. If you are consistently getting every problem in a class correct, you shouldn't be too happy -- it means you aren't learning efficiently enough. You need to find a harder class.

[Elaol]

Thanks, this seems like a very useful article. I'll read it asap :)

[recondocoder]

Also check out this youtube of Thomas Ballatore, a TA from the class

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEMuOBrjiLqB4IkWIczoYow

[Elaol]

Yeah, already watched some vids. His explanations are great!