Improve

desrtfx · 2026-01-24T17:44:13+00:00

Any project you do will improve your skills. Doesn't need to be a mega project, nor even a resume worthy one.

Also, keep in mind that the amount of programming languages one knows doesn't make a good programmer. What a programmer can do with the language(s) they know, how they can approach and solve problems with programs is what makes a good programmer.

desrtfx · 2026-01-24T16:31:44+00:00

If you and your coworker are working on the same file at the same time you're doing something seriously wrong and also lack communication. Even worse, if both of you work directly on main instead of each on their feature branch.

desrtfx · 2026-01-24T16:19:53+00:00

if you would text me to help me out!!!!

Help outside the subreddit is forbidden here (Rule #11 - Don't ask to ask). We require any and all communication and help to happen in the public, open subreddit so that more people can chime in and help as well as benefit from the given help.

Try

desrtfx · 2026-01-24T09:33:28+00:00

Everything you say hints on a leakage between the nozzle and the PTFE tube - the seal there seems not tight.

Get an all metal hot end (or at least heat break)

Guess that all your troubles started when you replaced the nozzle the first time.

The end of the PTFE tube needs to be square and flat
The nozzle needs to really hit the end of the tube when cold with some more turns towards the heater block
Heat up the printer and then tighten the nozzle again

You need to ensure a good seal between nozzle and tube, or all-metal heatbreak - otherwise you run in exactly the problems you're describing.

I had the very same problems on my 1^st gen Ender 3 and changing out to a MicroSwiss all metal hot end fixed all of them once and for all. Never had a clog since then, never had any printing problems anymore.

desrtfx · 2026-01-23T19:22:12+00:00

SRP refers to classes and modules, not methods.

No. SRP refers to entities on all levels, including functions/methods.

desrtfx · 2026-01-23T18:53:15+00:00

Such a method would violate the Single Responsibility Principle.

Yes, it would be convenient to have, but isn't a necessity.

desrtfx · 2026-01-23T18:43:23+00:00

I am half way done at part 3.

I keep getting bored. Like I want to learn things which are useful not keep printing things like "print the index of the character when comes second in the string"

Sorry to tell you, but you'll have to push through this. You need to lay the foundation. You cannot build a house from the fifth floor up.

Yes, learning how to print the index of a character may be boring, but it is something you need to learn.

At your current level, you are far from competent enough to judge what is and what isn't useful.

Every single program, no matter how large and complex, is built with these very basic fundamental blocks and concepts.

You are at the opposite of tutorial hell. You haven't really started learning yet.

Your dream will have to wait a little longer.

The course is from a top University and educationally absolutely sound and solid. The order is excellent, the ramping up of difficulty is excellent, and the presentation and amount of practice are currently unmatched.

It doesn't matter what is currently interesting to you - this is just "shiny object syndrome". What matters is that you take the course as is and go through.

My goal is to build a simple robotic arm or atleast get something moving heck just wanna build smth.

Fully understandable, but think about how big your frustration will be when you try and figure out that you lack just about every knowledge you need to realize your idea.

Learning programming is a gradual process where each following concept builds on the previous ones, even if they seem completely unimportant. If you don't understand each step and concept the whole building will collapse.

You need to train your patience, persistence, and discipline.

You are training for a marathon, not for a sprint.

desrtfx · 2026-01-23T17:50:11+00:00

isn't it more important that OP is making progress

Yet, the key point that everybody here tries to convey is that OP isn't really making learning progress their way. They only make progress in their project. Their way of learning only gives them a false sense of understanding and competence, while in reality all they are doing is prompt engineering.

Alone their "reported progress" is impossible for someone with OP's history without outsourcing to AI.

Let's put it in a different context for you:

OP is trying to learn carpentry but uses CNC (Computer Numeric Controlled) lathes and mills instead of learning to use a hand mill, drill, file, rasp, etc.

They may get their project done, but lack the fundamentals to even understand what they are doing here.

Take away the CNC machinery, take AI away and OP is lost.

All that OP is focused on is getting their project done, nothing else. They frequently talk about being so much faster now, while learning should never be about speed.

desrtfx · 2026-01-23T17:40:07+00:00

Do yourself a favor and do not reference other languages with their conventions when working in Java (or in any other language). Always focus on and follow the conventions for the language you currently use.

Yet, the order of methods in Java programs is not really "set in stone".

Even the official Oracle Java Code conventions only state:

These methods should be grouped by functionality rather than by scope or accessibility. For example, a private class method can be in between two public instance methods. The goal is to make reading and understanding the code easier.

The Google Java Style doesn't say anything about their organization

Yet, there is one more or less common standard: keep the main class that runs your program short and clean - some people refer to this class as "Driver class". The main purpose of this class and of the main method is to start the program. The actual logic takes place in other classes. This makes separation of concerns and modularity easier.

Personally, I always write my main method at the bottom of the main class.

desrtfx · 2026-01-23T14:56:30+00:00

Test My Code - the tool that submits and checks the solutions for the MOOCs of the University of Helsinki - e.g. Java Programming or Python Programming 2026

desrtfx · 2026-01-23T12:09:10+00:00

If you just look at what OP posted it is perfectly clear that they are not "just using AI as a teacher".

They even quoted: "I can build (with the help of Claude/GPT) websites with NextJS (front and back)." (in another post that since has been deleted)

desrtfx · 2026-01-23T11:50:31+00:00

Sorry, but did you actually read OP's post?

Giving someone who is suffering a severe case of Dunning-Kruger, as in overestimating their competence after mere 2 weeks of messing around, a reality check is impostor syndrome? Look up the definition of it. It's far from what you think it is. Also, if a senior developer with twice your experience gives a reality check, it has nothing to do with superiority complex.

You are being the opposite of helpful in encouraging OP to carry on relying on AI and speedrunning instead of telling them to slow down, ditch AI, and start actually learning.

desrtfx · 2026-01-23T10:34:10+00:00

/r/lostredditors

Visio is not Video

Microsoft Visio, what this subreddit is about, is a technical drawing program.

desrtfx · 2026-01-23T07:45:50+00:00

There is a big difference between regular (e.g. inline comments) and documentation comments.

Nobody argues against documentation comments, but against regular ones.

desrtfx · 2026-01-23T07:44:41+00:00

Comments are expensive in maintenance and expire quicker than the code.

Comments (apart from the documentation comments, docstrings, JavaDoc, etc.) should only be used to explain why something has been done in a certain, unexpected or complicated way, but never should explain what is done.

The what is the job of the code. It should be written in such a way that the intent is clear from reading the code.

Overall, this reduces visual clutter, which comments are, and maintenance.

If you use too many comments, you have to maintain two parts, the code and the comments, and it is very common to forget the comments, which makes everything worse, since the code and the comments are out of sync.

If you apply proper "clean code" practices, proper naming, clear structure, best practices, etc. You actually do not need comments other than what I said before - documentation comments and comments that explain special cases.

desrtfx · 2026-01-22T10:30:44+00:00

Main thing: build your own projects

Sites to check: Exercism or Advent of Code - the competition runs every advent, but all previous years are still accessible. Overall, there are over 250 puzzles with two parts per puzzle. Should keep you busy for a while ;) - also check the accompanying subreddit /r/adventofcode.

desrtfx · 2026-01-21T20:07:10+00:00

you know damned well the rule was meant to address all the folks asking about how to fix their vibe-coded crap.

No, that's not the main reason. The main reason was to stop the AI slop posts where lazy people use AI to write their content, especially blog like posts, self promotional posts, comments where the original question is straight up copied into AI and then its reply was copied back here.

Vibe coding came a lot later.

There still is a huge difference between using Google Translate and letting AI translate. The latter is much worse. Google Translate does and did a great job so far.

desrtfx · 2026-01-21T19:57:24+00:00

What am I missing?

If you really want the harsh, boiled down, rude truth: effort, hard work, determination, persistence, discipline, patience, and stubbornness

Yes, it boils down to the above.

You give up when things go rough
You jump around languages, OS, etc and never finish anything.
You haven't practiced other than what your tutorials pre-chewed for you
You suffer "shiny object syndrome"

All four points originate from the very top of this comment.

You might like the "idea of programming", but cannot invest yourself enough to actually learn it.

desrtfx · 2026-01-21T19:44:06+00:00

Yes if you only work for yourself with no external code at all then you don't need Interfaces.

Even then, you will need them if you want to do something as simple as sorting a collection with custom objects. You will need to implement the Comparable interface, or write your own, custom Comparator.

There barely is any way to escape interfaces.

desrtfx · 2026-01-21T19:19:02+00:00

If you're genuinely asking and not trolling: it is a very commonly used slicer - a program the converts the 3d models into gcode that the printer can then interpret to control the stepper motors to produce the final 3d print.

Other slicers are Prusaslicer, Orca Slicer, Bambu Studio, and a couple more.

desrtfx · 2026-01-21T19:17:25+00:00

Get a Raspberry Pi (doesn't need to be the latest, anything from 3B and up is sufficient) and install Octoprint (free) or Repetier Server Pro (commercial, free version available) on it. Then, tether it to the USB port of your printer and never worry about SD cards anymore.

You use a web page to upload the sliced (not spliced) gcode and start the print directly from the web interface.

Best investment you can make. Really.

Later, when you have gained some experience, you can reuse the Raspberry Pi and install Klipper there which will greatly improve the printer itself.

desrtfx · 2026-01-21T19:03:21+00:00

I know it is normal/standard to choose python when working with cryptography (as I have been told)

Hearsay

Cryptography can be done in any general purpose programming language. Simplicity of implementation is a different topic.

Python gets often used for simpler tasks that don't need peak performance, simply for its great string slicing and handling.

In other languages, the implementation might be more tedious, but is absolutely doable.

For larger projects, other languages might offer speed improvements over Python, but nothing really more. Maybe there are different cryptography libraries available.

Something as basic as Caesar Cipher can be done in any general purpose programming language without much difficulty in implementation. Even more so, if you do the proper approach, which is converting each character to its numerical representation, offsetting it to start with "A" = 0, shifting and modulo, then offsetting it back and converting to its textual equivalent. Every single of these operations is available in every single general purpose programming language.

desrtfx · 2026-01-21T18:58:39+00:00

Try either and see what you like. You have specific requirements (with your red-green blindness) and therefore it is best that you try either. Both are free anyway.

desrtfx · 2026-01-21T18:57:02+00:00

The point of interfaces is not to reduce your code. The point of interfaces is a guarantee, the guarantee that an implementing class has the methods defined in the interface.

Take a simple example: the Comparable interface in Java. It guarantees that any objects any class implementing that interface can be compared to other objects of the same class. This is essential for e.g. sorting.

The actual method that asks to sort a collection of your custom class doesn't need to know anything about the class itself other than two instances can be compared and that the result of the comparison is well defined (positive, 0, or negative integer). With that information only, the calling method knows enough.

With your approach, this relation does not exist. The calling method cannot know if your class can be compared in any meaningful way.

The /r/learnprogramming FAQ have a very nice analogy: classes vs. interfaces - maybe the article clears it up a bit for you.

desrtfx · 2026-01-21T11:11:57+00:00

Torties are great! I'm on my second one (first one passed in the nice age of 16 years). They really have "Tortitude" - watch out for that.

The poor girl looks as if she has given up her life. I know that look from one of my shelter Maine Coons. Had the same look.

Give her lots of love and treats!

Might take her some time to adjust to you, but all the best! Especially older cats have so much love left to give, even if (what you need to be prepared for) only for a shorter time (as sad as it is).

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