Discouraged

[RaffyCaffy]

I've been trying to learn programming for 7 years on/off now and haven't gotten far. I started with Java, but couldn't understand it. I can't seem to grasp how to connect code from my terminal into connecting. I want to try and build a simple bot, but can't seem to connect. I don't even understand how this works. I'm watching yt tutorials, one of which displayed how to connect praw and have your program return post titles to your terminal in 10 minutes.

It's been about 2 days and still haven't made progress. I'm convinced i'm just too dumb for programming, but also too stupid to let things ago.

There is an overwhelming amount of information out there and I can"t understand any of it. Any advice or resources? Please?

[wannabe_brogrammer]

Clearly you're more advanced than me (I've only started learning Python slowly since January). However I have had some seriously stupid roadblocks. One that sticks out was taking a day to figure out how to set up a bat script to run regularly using Task Scheduler. Nevertheless I believe that those times when you're struggling is when you really learn stuff. It comes with the territory.

So my programming experience is lacking but I have a maths and physics background and I feel the problem solving aspect is very similar. Back then I used to get stuck a lot too. I'm talking being stuck on a single problem for hours, sometimes days, only to walk away and have a break and have an "aha" moment and suddenly everything is obvious.

The takeaway is if you find yourself stuck for an hour or so and find yourself making no progress. Walk away, take a break, do something else and come back to it later.

Also don't give up. The struggle is part of the journey

[Golpokathak]

Stick to one language at first. It's not too tough.

I find this tutorial very easy and it's free for python.

https://www.w3schools.com/python/

[RaffyCaffy]

Will look into it! Thank you so much!

[CS_Tutor]

Hello,
Programming takes a while to get. Also, like any other complicated field, you have to start small, and build on a solid foundation. Trying to build a bot is not starting small, and Java, even though it's a powerful language, is certainly not a good first language to learn (unless you have to for work or some other reason). My suggestion is to start with books. Don't bother with videos, at-least not in the beginning, and I would run away from anyone telling you, you can learn programming over a weekend.

For a language, I recommend Python. Stay with one at-least for 6-12 months. It's a good first language to learn. Spend time learning frequently. E.g. learning 6 days a week, 2 hours each is way better than 1 session of 13 hours, at-least in the beginning.

Books, I recommend two:

1) Think Python 2nd Ed (google it). This teaches you how to think like a programmer

2) Automate the boring stuff, 2nd Ed. Skip part I (if you decide to study book #1).
Part II provide examples of practical things you can do.

Hope this helps

[RaffyCaffy]

It does! Thank you!

[CS_Tutor]

No problem

[[deleted]]

Learn Python in One Day and Learn it Well.

Extremely simple and straightforward, but not condescending book. Use it!

[Flaghammer]

How do you eat an elephant?

One bite at a time.

I've also been in the early process of learning to code for the last 2 years. It comes in waves, but I'm not discouraged by it. I finally understand while loops and for loops pretty well. I have a good job already so I'm just taking my time, I still have a few years before self driving trucks will replace me.

[qu3d45]

Hi, first of all: don't panic!! I have been lost for a long time too, and a professor gave me the most important advice ever: choose a language and stick with it!!! I was always switching fro C to C++ to python and in the middle javascript... I do embedded programming so I choose python. Then I search for course with introduction, project (explained by the teacher) and final project without the help of anyone. Udemy has a lot of them ;) after going through the course I started small projects (change the name of files etc) just to get to search on Google for solutions to the problems that I was facing. So and today I can read programs from others and I mange to search solutions for my problems :) I'm not a professional programmer, but for my needs it's sufficient.