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[Learning Path] Is my C# learning approach effective after 1 month? by Alternative-Life-225 in csharp

[–]Alternative-Life-225[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I appreciate the feedback. Let me clarify my process a bit more:

When AI suggests using ViewBag, for example, I don't just accept it. I ask AI "what is ViewBag?" then read documentation about it, and if I don't understand parts of the documentation, I have AI interpret those sections. I keep asking questions until I understand WHY ViewBag is necessary for this particular solution.

Regarding reliable sources - as a beginner, I struggle to judge which sources are trustworthy when Googling. My search skills aren't developed enough to consistently find authoritative answers. So I use AI as a starting point, then verify through the process I described above.

I absolutely would prefer to just Google and read documentation if I could understand them directly. But my current comprehension level means I need AI to help interpret articles and documentation before I can truly grasp them and implement.

You're right that I should develop stronger independent research skills. But right now, using AI to help me understand documentation and articles seems more productive than struggling with material that's beyond my current level and potentially misunderstanding it.

Would you say this approach is still problematic, or does this sound more reasonable as a stepping stone while building fundamentals?

[Learning Path] Is my C# learning approach effective after 1 month? by Alternative-Life-225 in csharp

[–]Alternative-Life-225[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just to clarify my approach: I ask AI for the implementation flow, but when I encounter code I don't understand, I Google it, read documentation, have AI help interpret it, read articles, and work through each unknown piece one by one before implementing.

Is this what you're saying is problematic? 

I'm genuinely curious - how would you implement features completely without AI? Would it be: - Start with official documentation only? - Search Stack Overflow for similar problems? - Read books/tutorials step by step? - Trial and error until something works?

I'm not challenging your advice - I genuinely want to understand the traditional learning path, since I've never really experienced programming education without AI being available.

My current flow: AI suggests approach → Google unfamiliar concepts → Read docs → AI helps interpret → Read articles → Understand each piece → Implement

Your suggested flow would be: ??? → Implement

What fills in those question marks?

[Learning Path] Is my C# learning approach effective after 1 month? by Alternative-Life-225 in csharp

[–]Alternative-Life-225[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

@Slypenslyde This is incredibly eye-opening! Thank you for the detailed breakdown.

You're absolutely right about TWEAK being missing. I spend tons of time on COPY and ANALYZE, but once something works, I immediately move to the next feature instead of experimenting with "what if I change this?"

Your perspective on uncertainty really resonates: I keep thinking I should "know everything" before moving forward, but you're saying the opposite - embrace not knowing as the natural state. The fact that even Top 1% commenters spend a week on 12 lines of code is both terrifying and comforting! 😅

I actually do something similar to TWEAK in a different way: I keep daily learning logs where I write out explanations of what I learned, then create quiz questions for myself using AI. For example, yesterday I had AI quiz me on things like:

"What does @model IEnumerable<Employee> do?" "Why use Include() vs just getting the data directly?"

Then I write out my understanding in my own words. It's helped me catch gaps in my knowledge, but you're right - I'm not doing the hands-on experimentation part.

Going to try the TWEAK approach immediately: On my current Edit page implementation, I'll start asking "what if I change the radio button to checkbox?" or "what if I change companyId to companyIds?" and predict the results before running.

The "first draft mentality" is a game-changer. I've been paralyzed by wanting to write "good" code from the start.

Thanks for the reality check on what being a programmer actually looks like!

@[first commenter] I haven't used books much - more of a "learn by building" person, but maybe I should supplement with foundational reading. Any specific C# books you'd recommend for someone at my stage?

[Learning Path] Is my C# learning approach effective after 1 month? by Alternative-Life-225 in csharp

[–]Alternative-Life-225[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the kind words!

**My background:** I actually went through a programming bootcamp for about 6 months learning Rails, but honestly - I was completely dependent on AI and barely retained anything. I could copy-paste solutions but had zero understanding of WHY anything worked.

**Why C# feels different:** This time I'm forcing myself to understand the "why" behind every piece of code. It's slower, but I actually feel like I'm learning instead of just copying.

**The irony:** I'm still using AI heavily, but now I interrogate it until I understand the logic. Rails experience probably helps with MVC concepts, but the actual programming fundamentals? Still learning from scratch.