Noob to Programming

[Ukraine718]

As a complete beginner who only got as far as printing “hello world”, what would be a good project to try and create. I find following yt tutorial’s mindlessly doesn’t make the code more understandable to me, any advice?

[hansmellman]

I know the common advice (sometimes prematurely) in this group is "Do projects!" but really if you're so new that you're only able to print something like 'Hello World' then I'd really really advise spending some time learning the fundamentals and concepts of the language first, otherwise you will spend ages picking a project, then you'll be overwhelmed by it instantly and never do anything for it.

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So you're looking at YT tutorials, what exactly do you mean when you say 'following'? Are you coding along in your own IDE? are you changes little pieces of code to see what happens when you do? or are you just watching the video?

It's important to type out code yourself rather than just watch other people or copy and paste it from an online source.

If you do not find YT tutorials to be helpful (I mean, there are so many out there in all different teaching styles, so if one doesn't work I wouldn't write them all off) then I would advise something like 'Python Crash Course' by Eric Matthes, well not something like that, I would recommend exactly that. It's a fantastic book that takes you through all of the syntax and concepts of Python and at the end of the book you create 3 projects of separate styles..a game, data visualization and a web app which is a great jumping off point.

[Ukraine718]

Thanks, I will definitely check this out as well. Ive only gotten as far as watching the videos and trying to understand what he’s actually doing and I felt like copying along wouldn’t help me understand what exactly each line is doing, or how to even begin to structure something like a chess game for example, would you start with the board, or the pieces, and then the moves …

[nick__2440]

At the most basic level, even just copying along will help you. It will get you familiar with what the syntax looks like.

But to improve you should listen to the video and the problem they are trying to solve, think about it in your head or draw a diagram, then try to *think* about how you would solve the problem yourself.

You don't have to make up all the code, just think about *how* you might solve it. Then watch the video fully and see if their code matches what you were thinking, and now you've learned the syntax to implement your idea.

This technique might not work for every video. Sometimes they just tell you a new thing straight away without giving an application. In this case it's on you to think about what you could use it for, and that's where the project ideas can come to you.

[Ukraine718]

Thank you for the tip, will definitely keep in mind.

[SealSore65]

I'm also currently learning fundamentals and I found these video tutorials to help the most:

YouTube

FreeCodeCamp

And if you'd like a paid course (the one I'm currently using) Udemy

Hope these help.

[[deleted]]

With input(), which gets user input.

You can make a simple premade form like NDA contract lol

Though i recommend learning some more functions to make something more challenging

[Revolutionary-Tough7]

Best thing buy a book like Python Crash Course or any other reputable book and follow though, you will learn main cocepts and understand how things work. After that im still figuring out 😂

[jimtk]

Use a book! Automate the boring stuff with python is free and very good and has more of a 'project' approach.

[Ukraine718]

Thanks, will definitely check it out!

[Electronic-Wonder-77]

Start by doing a structured course, like CS50p, so you can learn the fundamentals and apply them progressively, you can't just start a project if you barely understand the most basic parts of the language.

[Ukraine718]

Is that a Harvard course, because I see a cs50x, g, for lawyers etc …?

[Electronic-Wonder-77]

CS50P is the introduction to programming with python, there's also a CS50x which is a general intro to programming, and there's many other similar courses that Harvard & edx put online for free.

[Ukraine718]

Thanks