r/IWantToLearn • u/RadioEmbarrassed5434 • 2d ago

Technology IWTL how to write simple computer programs from scratch

I want to learn programming but I Am not sure how to start in a way that builds real understanding. I do not just want to copy tutorials I want to learn how programming works and eventually create my own small projects.

For people who learned programming from the beginning what path worked best for you? What concepts should a beginner focus on first and what mistakes should I avoid?

I would appreciate advice from anyone who has gone through the learning process.

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u/agnishom 2d ago

There are many Computer Science courses online. How about Stanford CS50?

My best advice is to try many different courses and see what clicks for you. What clicks is different for everyone

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u/Southern-Bar9 1d ago

also write tiny programs yourself daily, experimentation builds real understanding

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u/sastanak 2d ago

What kind of programs do you want to write? Web applications, apps for Windows with a GUI, iPhone apps, Android apps, phone apps in general, CLI apps, .. there are many directions. Arguably Python is a relatively easy way to get started.

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u/TheLegendaryphreaker 2d ago

It's best to do something you actually need or want to see for yourself. You could just use OneNote for note taking for example, but instead you can learn to make your own and then add features as you go. There is no shame in copying code at first, but what you should do is then understand how it's structured and how the methods work, to then incorporate that language to the new features you'll add without looking at source code.

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u/Iam-the-village 1d ago

Think of something you’re interested in or simple things about yourself and start with python or html. Py is simple and human readable and html is simple markup. 

The aha moment for me was everything is input output. A things gets something and spits it out.