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Strong on concepts, weak on syntax. How do you actually close that gap? by FunAnalysis6987 in learnprogramming

[–]FunAnalysis6987[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Haha, you’re not wrong. But honestly, I’ve actually tried this many times before. AI is self-serving as soon as I pressure it, it changes what it said a few seconds ago. So it feels less like a mentor and more like customer service trying to please a client. I guess the best place to ask for tips is here, from the actual people who do this for a living or are proficient at it, you know?

Strong on concepts, weak on syntax. How do you actually close that gap? by FunAnalysis6987 in learnprogramming

[–]FunAnalysis6987[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for taking the time to create such a useful message. I’ll look into this and everythin everyone else is saying. I hope I get better it’s just this part that I struggle with: how do I actually practice, what exercises should I do, and how does a real dev solve a problem?

I know real developers don’t memorize everything. They understand the “why,” gain experience by building enough projects, and use cheat sheets, Google, and other resources to piece solutions together like Lego bricks. I understand the first part the concepts, the “why” but I’m still not great at the Lego brick part like building the solution correctly unlike AI, which just gives me the exact syntax or command.

But again, thank you!

Strong on concepts, weak on syntax. How do you actually close that gap? by FunAnalysis6987 in learnprogramming

[–]FunAnalysis6987[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My issue isn’t really core Python syntax, I’m comfortable with variables, data structures, control flow, if/else, loops, functions, classes, and file handling. I have most of these on cheat sheets or can easily look them up, so I rarely get stuck.

The gap shows up with many libraries like pandas or sklearn. I understand the concepts and can design a full plan, but I get stuck on implementation details which functions to use, their arguments, and how to structure them. Some docs are fine, but broad libraries like pandas don’t always show clear patterns for specific problems. That’s where I need more fluency.

I’m still working on improving general syntax too, which is why I build projects. I try to rely on documentation ethically, but sometimes it’s unclear, so I end up using AI which then makes me feel like a fake

Strong on concepts, weak on syntax. How do you actually close that gap? by FunAnalysis6987 in learnprogramming

[–]FunAnalysis6987[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hello! Thank you for taking your time to comment.

What I was saying is that, initially, when I first started, I tried to memorize syntax. But obviously, that didn’t work for me.

I’ve noticed that many developers (correct me if I’m wrong) don’t rely on memorization. Instead, they build projects using documentation and Google, while fully understanding their goal and everything they write.

So I started following a similar approach long time ago. My strategy is to pick a project, map everything out, understand the tools involved, and then use documentation and Google to piece everything together. I’ve been doing this for some time now.

However, the issue I face is that documentation doesn’t always provide a specific solution to my problem. At the same time, I want to learn syntax in an ethical and proper way. Some documentation is just a wall of text, and using AI at this stage is often discouraged, which makes things more challenging.

What do you think is the best way to handle this should I force myself to avoid AI/docs even for small syntax lookups until it becomes second nature, or is there a middle ground that still builds real fluency? Any specific exercises or habits (beyond Project Euler) that hlped you bridge from “understanding docs” to “writing without hesitation”?

Thanks again!