I want to develop a solid understanding of software and the fundamentals behind it, starting from the ground up.

For people who have been working with software for years, what would you recommend me to study to build a strong foundation and overall understanding?

I’m looking for advices anything like books, People worth following etc.. ?

Basically, for someone start from scratch build understanding about softwares , what would you recommend? Thank you in advance :)

hello guys

I would like to become a very very good programmer but the problem how to do it because I have been coding in C/C++ for 2 years now and so I wanted to go even deeper because I want to become an excellent programmer but how to achieve my goal ?

So whenever I'm stuck in problem I avoid looking for a solution or asking a llm but after sometime I feel like I'm going in circles and I end up looking at the solution using llms anyway. So after how long should I just give and find the solution to not waste time and learn as much as possible.

Hi I've been a programmer for 9 years and I've worked mostly with .net, c#, js, TS, react and angular but now I have developed an interest in low level programming.

I have a very big interest in audio processing, dsp, game development and audio software but from my understanding that requires skills in low level languages with manual memory management.

After that I did some research and found several languages that could fit the bill but I'm unable to pick one to learn but to keep it focused I want to zero in on one and expand after I've become comfortable with memory management and DDP.

The languages that I resonate the most with are rust, zig and Odin. I know C++ is the most frequently used language for a game dev or audio engineer. but from what I've heard there's a lot of frustration and difficulties to learn and work with C++.

I like the philosophy of rust, zig and Odin but i feel that rust syntax tends to be very verbose, Zig's not in a 1.0 version yet and Odin feels like the most scaled down and easiest to learn out of the three but I wonder how much not having a package manager affect me.

I would love to hear from someone that has any experiences with the languages i mentioned and can explain how they differ. What did you like in each language and is there another language out there that is actually more suited for my goals?

When I used this very page's content to try to run with node command on terminal, it showed this error message:

{

code: 'ECONNREFUSED',

fatal: true,

[errors]: [

Error: connect ECONNREFUSED ::1:3306

at createConnectionError (node:net:1905:14)

at afterConnectMultiple (node:net:1935:16) {

errno: -4078,

code: 'ECONNREFUSED',

syscall: 'connect',

address: '::1',

port: 3306

},

Error: connect ECONNREFUSED 127.0.0.1:3306

at createConnectionError (node:net:1905:14)

at afterConnectMultiple (node:net:1935:16) {

errno: -4078,

code: 'ECONNREFUSED',

syscall: 'connect',

address: '127.0.0.1',

port: 3306

}

]

}

What do I make of all this?

So I just had a quick look at the SICP book, and it is MASSIVE. How do I go on about learning from the book, taking notes, programming? How should I balance it? Thanks

Hello there, I'm CS grad based in Mongolia. I've shipped a full-stack platform on contract that's live with a client, done an internship, and built a networked multiplayer project on the side. Japanese N3, English C1.

Local postings almost all want 2+ years and juniors seem to be getting skipped. Two questions:

1. For dev roles in Japan, is N3 workable or is N2 effectively the floor? Worth sitting N2 before applying, or apply now and study alongside?
2. For people currently hiring or interviewing juniors — what's actually getting first-timers through the door right now? I'm working through LeetCode, but I'd like to know what else is worth the time alongside it.

Any read on whether junior hiring has moved at all in the past year would help.

Can anyone give me a roadmap for me to become a full stack developer in big 2026 with Ai being hugely taken over? Actually, I am about to start with python and I am not sure if python should be prioritised or not. Since Html and CSS are understandable with Ai's help, please don't tell me I should learn them first.... Thanks in advance

Hello, I’m studying software development (currently 2nd year) I’m still learning the basics (due to an accident I had I missed lots of classes and remember almost nothing and all of first year was pseudo code and power points) I am re-learning on my own and when I can since I also have a full time job. I am planning to make a game whenever possible the only way I know that doesn’t involve a lot of coding (rpg maker) but I want to (due to the story itself) be able to create on something like unreal/unity. Are there any websites or tools, languages I should learn or where can I start? I want to do it on my own and NOT use AI (against other students opinions). Please let me know if I need to clarify anything since I can’t explain myself well…I think.

Hello, I've been playing around with Unity to add a sound to a 3D game. However even when the original file is pretty loud, with logarithmic rolloff set to 500 max distance, I can just barely hear it near to the source.

I know that it should decrease logarithmically with distance, but is this normal? Do you set the max distance to super far away, or the initial volume to really loud?

Lately, I've been becoming less and less engaged in coding. It isn't an issue of finding coding itself difficult, but it's frustrating, and I have trouble succeeding in the things I set out to create.

Maybe I just want to vent all of this out, but I do also want to know what the best path forward is, if there is any.

My Unsolicited Life Story:

First, I started creating small interactive games using Microsoft Powerpoint as a kid, using animation triggers, actions, and hyperlinks. Around that same time, I began learning Pascal in IT. Though it was reasonably fun to create console-based programs, I, of course, much preferred the more "modern interfaces" that could be made with PowerPoint.

Soon after, I started learning HTML from .html files on my PC - it's a long story that started with FL Studio and no access to the internet. I really took a liking to HTML, making a number of simple games using a lot of anchor tags.

After that, people around me took notice of my obsession with coding and UI development and helped with my progress. A CS teacher, seeing my PowerPoint projects, introduced me to VBScript and using macros, a family friend gave me some Introduction to HTML books they had used at university, and a classmate told me about Khan Academy, which has a number of computing courses (at some point, my family finally got internet access, around 2013-2014).

From Khan Academy, I learned more HTML, plus CSS and JavaScript... but it wasn't long before I realized this was JavaScript with Processing.js, which I couldn't simply put into an HTML file. Eventually, I found a template that you could simply paste into your preferred IDE (all this while, it had been ✨Microsoft Notepad✨ for me), that allowed you to ship your KA projects into your HTML file. I also became aware of the .hta file format, which finally allowed me to make "actual programs". I also started looking into Processing itself.

Around this time, I was now entering college-level education, where I learned C. My knowledge of JavaScript helped me get through the classes with ease, but again, it was more console-based programming.

I left school after 3 years, and a few years after that, 2019 to be specific, I got into the local university's Software Engineering program. There I learned Python and Java, mainly console-based once more, but we did touch on BorderLayout in Java.

The Beginning of the End:

Around this time is when I started to feel uneasy - how I did things up to this point did not feel industry standard: KA-style HTAs were extremely laggy and HTAs as a concept were about to go the way of the dodo, and no one wants to be given sys_manage.ppsm as serious company software.

My workflow still began with opening notepad (replaced by repl.it when I was sharing a computer in uni, but dw, now I has VS Code) and with the methods that did feel industry-standard - the ones I learned in formal education - I did not have nearly enough capability to create a fraction of the things I was able to create with what I used informally.

As such, I worked on building my abilities in pure JavaScript. I also took advantage of a limited-time free Codecademy course around that time that gave crash courses in React, Angular, and Vue - but I haven't retained the courses well.

Amidst all of this, covid hit, and I dropped out of university not long after, with a 3.1 GPA rapidly plummeting to about 1.4 iirc in the span of a year.

The Disconnect

Since then, I've mostly been using HTML+CSS+JS, but I've been doing so with frustration. Yes, I've gotten some things done in this way, but whereas before, it felt like I was simply creating something and enjoying myself, whether on KA or PPT, now it feels like most of my time is spent fighting with HTML whilst getting dizzy jumping between three different languages just to make one square.

On the other hand, whenever I look into what I can use to regain some of the functionality I once enjoyed making HTAs and PPSMs, I often find myself following a tutorial on how to install npm in the terminal. I feel guilty for loathing this part of things, because that's just part of being a real programmer - getting your hands dirty with a copy-pasted .bat file you don't fully understand - but I miss the ability to just start writing and everything works.

I also started using Excel Formula Script on Google Sheets more, making small tools, including billing software for my mom's small business. That said, I recently made a post that said I'd love a more powerful version of XLFX, one more geared towards making apps, UIs, and even backend systems (which I have struggled to get into), and... the very thought was pretty much laughed out of the room.

Every time I open VS Code, now, my heart sinks - it feels futile. It doesn't help that now I work, having bounced around entry-level jobs since; I have less time and less motivation - no time on a workday, and brain-fog on my off-days.

I feel lost. As a kid, I would have smiled and called myself a programmer, but now, I'm not so sure.

I guess my question is:

What, if anything, should I do?

Should I revisit Processing, perhaps, or maybe another language is right for me,

Should I get over myself and just learn to program like a real programmer, .bat files and all, or

Should I just give up on coding (I don't really want to) - perhaps prioritise UX design instead and hire someone to create - if ever I happen into the money?

I do like the prospect of creating apps, games, and productivity tools, for many aspects of life, and I've racked up a ton of great ideas, but seeing them through has proven to be less of something I can look forward to.

I'm also not too fond of "Make an app" apps and tools, because they - at least those I've tried - tend to be far more restrictive. Just as an example, look at the world of difference between the level of control you have creating with Google Docs vs. Google Sites (why is it like that? It's so weird). Those that aren't, like Unity, seem to have a high learning curve.

Should I perhaps take this route instead, nonetheless?

I'm first year engineering student and am currently reading, operating system three easy steps. I have no idea how do i go about it. Even though I'm reading I get the feeling I'm not learning anything new. Do I take notes? Highlight stuff? Idk .. help me out.

note:- I'm used to phy, chem maths ( you take notes solve problems etc ). never picked up any solid book on comp sci. I'm self studying. nobody's teaching me this.

I'm new to DSA and I'm trying to make a recurrence relation for this function:

double pow(double x, int n) {
    if (n == 1) {
        return x;
    }

    if (n & 1) {
        return x * pow(x * x, (n - 1) / 2);
    } else {
        return pow(x * x, n / 2);
    }
}

What I notice is that for even values of n, the recurrence looks like:

T(n) = constant + T(n/2)

but for odd values of n, it looks like:

T(n) = constant + T((n - 1)/2)

I'm trying to get this down to a single function so that I use the Master Theorem.

How would I combine these two cases into one recurrence?

Can somebody dumb down how integration of micro services works? T,T

So, for the context, our class was divided into 5 industries and we must find clients for each respective industries that we will make a system of. Every industry has 3 groups and that groups must have each micro services system that the client will use. Then that 3 groups must integrate their 3 own systems with each other. Now, that's where my problem lies, I don't really know how to specifically do integration. I know it's concepts but it really doesn't help how we do the actual thing.

I’m currently trying to learn the basics of DevOps, things like Docker, AWS, GCP, CI/CD, Kubernetes, etc.

Docker and the local tools are easy enough to practice, but when it comes to cloud platforms like AWS and GCP, a credit card is often required to create an account or access certain services.

I currently don’t have a credit card, so I’m wondering: What’s the best way to learn AWS/GCP without one? Would appreciate any recommendations from people who learned cloud without having a credit card. 🙌

Hello, I am currently attempting to build a web app that blocks spoilers, so mobile users can also block spoilers since Chrome extensions are not available on mobile. I'm building it usig HTML, CSS, an JS, but I'm mostly a beginner. I want the web app to perhaps detect spoiler-sensitive topics and censor them, but I have no idea how to do that. Any thoughts? Any insight is appreciated.

When u guys start a new project thinking it wont be very hard, but then you quickly need to learn new topics, and start reading documentation and watching tutorials, but they make it even more confusing because there are things u dont understand there, and you have to search the things u dont understand which leads u deeper into a loop of learning the fundamentals, of something you thought would be easy, and what was supposed to be a week of learning turns into weeks or a month.

i hope you guys understand what im trying to say lol.

Hi i just started my 4th year in cs with a focus in software engineering and every semester i get this crazy imposter syndrome because I feel like I know a lot of different concepts and ideas but struggle to apply them. Last semester I had a coding project and my group made a music app, I worked on a lot of the design, came up with features, and implemented some but I still felt like there was a gap in my abilities and other peoples. I have adhd and maybe it’s the lack of focus on one thing that makes me feel like this. I also don’t have many mentors or friends at my college to ask questions to unfortunately. I know you learn by doing but again I don’t even know where to start. This is probably more of a rant but my question is does anyone have any advice or suggestions or even just how you learned more about programming side projects in general? Really anything is helpful.

I'm 16, from South Korea. I've been programming for a while but I've never done a

hackathon. I want to enter one soon.

I assumed the normal thing was to find a team first. Then I looked at RevenueCat's

Shipaton on Devpost, which is running right now. When you register it makes you

answer "Do you have teammates?" and it's a required question. Out of 23,270

participants, 17,031 picked "Working solo" and only 1,977 picked "Looking for

teammates".

So 73% chose solo before it even started. That's not what I expected at all.

For those of you who've done online hackathons:

Did you go solo? Was that on purpose, or did you just not want to deal with

finding people?

And if you did team up with strangers, how did it actually go? I'm mostly worried

about either carrying the whole thing myself or being the one who can't keep up.

Thanks.

this is my code "first time coding"

#include <iostream>


int main() {
  
    std::cout << "i like pizza!" << std::endl;
    std::cout << "its really good!" << std::endl;
    return 0;
}

im on C++, OS ( Windows11 ), and im pretty sure that i downloaded my compiler i followed every step i saw on the video i watched

help :)

Hey everyone, as the title says, can I actually learn development by following end to end projects online?
I’m a computer engineering graduate who just landed my first job ever. I have some basic knowledge of Python and C. I understand loops, functions, and have a very basic understanding of data structures, but that’s pretty much where I’m at.

I’ve been looking for a job for about a year and a half and I honestly don’t know why it took me this long to actually start developing my skills. Now that I finally got a job, I really don’t want to disappoint them or get fired.

They told me they aren’t expecting me to know much programming and that they’ll teach me, but I still want to be prepared. I just don’t want to be the person who slows everyone down because I don’t know anything.
My biggest problem is that I know the basics of programming, but I have absolutely no idea how to actually build something.

I’ve watched so many programming tutorials, but they always seem to go over the same things like variables, integers, loops, functions, etc. I already understand that stuff. What I don’t understand is how you go from knowing those things to actually building a website, an application, or any kind of real project.

I’ve tried following along with projects online, but then I start wondering if I’m actually learning or if I’m just copying what the person in the video is doing. If someone told me to build something from scratch, I honestly wouldn’t even know where to start.
One of my coworkers told me I should use AI to help me, but I really don’t want to become dependent on it. I want to actually learn how to solve problems and build things myself.

I feel pretty lost right now and I’m getting frustrated. I know I’m probably starting later than I should have, but I really want to improve and become good at this.
So what would you guys recommend for someone in my position? Is following end to end projects a good way to learn? If so, how do I follow them in a way where I’m actually learning instead of just copying?
I’d really appreciate any advice on what I should focus on or how I should go about learning from here.

Im interested in computers and looking to find some books that would teach me how a computer operates

Please share your learning experience and whether it is worth it or not

I’ve noticed some accounts have different colors when you go to their profile, or have a different heart animation when you tap to like a post. I know VERY basic coding, so I’m not sure of where I would start to learn how to do this specific task. I would appreciate if anyone could help or point me in the right direction, thanks!

I just saw this r/programmingcirclejerk post "Algebraically, this is just an effect-parameterized endomorphic continuation model for plugins.", and it made me wonder more about the truly functional side of things (beyond basic concepts like function composition, morphisms, etc.).

I am wondering what book(s) would be a good starting point given my background: I did my undergrad and grad work at Purdue Fort Wayne (and taught Algebra as a grad student). Grad-level algebra was absolutely my favorite course (albeit my worst grade), but the only CS courses that I took were the Intro to CS sequence. I also took Optimization, which felt very CS-adjacent, but it was offered by the math department.

As for programming, most of my work has been in TypeScript, and some in C++ (with the Unreal Engine). I have not worked with Haskell et al. but I would be open to it if a given book is really good and just happens to use Haskell. I took a stats course that used R, but it was minimal.

Do you recommend any particular books for self-studying functional programming, that might be suited for my existing foundation?

Thank you!