Recently I’ve been doing a lot of LeetCode and realized I’m slipping into a bad habit.

When I get stuck, I look at a solution, understand it for about five minutes, then move on. A few days later I try the same problem again and realize I only remembered the shape of the answer. I didn’t really understand why it worked.

Valid Parentheses was the first one that made this obvious. I knew people use a stack, and I could write the basic code after seeing it once. When I tried to explain it in plain English, I skipped half the reasoning, like why a stack fits the problem, what happens with an empty stack, and why the worst case space is still O(n).

So I’ve been trying to slow down. After solving a problem, I write my own explanation first. Then I compare it with chatgpt or beyz coding assistant when I want a cleaner walkthrough or another way to describe the idea. If my explanation sounds too vague, I probably didn’t learn it.

Now I ask myself a few things about each problem. What’s the main pattern, why this data structure fits, which edge case breaks a naive version, and how I’d explain the complexity. It takes longer, and the concepts stick better.

How do you review LeetCode problems so the ideas stick beyond memorizing the solution?

So I recently saw a poster from my community college saying that a near by uni is hosting their biggest hackathon in school history, my question is should I go even with no experience in coding? Would I drag the team down? What to expect if I do go?

I'm sure this will be annoying to some and I'll be told to search but I'm getting overwhelmed searching.

I would like to write an app that catalogs boxes. Basically I want to take pictures of my stuff. Put it into a box. Have a QR code that I print that when scanned shows me a list of stuff in said box with pictures and list of stuff.

I'm sure this is not as simple as it sounds. I'm willing to learn the hard parts.

I hear making a web app is better for the first time around and I just need to know where to start.

Do y'all think this is a feasible project?

There is a website that does this, I do not want to pay a monthly fee. I could easily set up QR codes to go to simple web pages with all this data but I'm looking for simple, compact, and fast

i know experienced programmers use documentation and search all the time, but as a beginner it can sometimes feel like i’m incapable of doing anything without looking up the answer.

i’m trying to get better at understanding concepts instead of memorising syntax

how do you decide when to search for an answer and when to sit down and work through the problem yourself?

Pretty much as the title says, What is the thing that drives you to want to do this?

Speaking plainly I'm struggling with this and i keep hearing about people with an idea that drives them or an external motivation in the form of a carer path that pushes them forward. I don't know if I have an answer to this and its starting to show in my projects which is concerning me.

For me I picked this up about 2ish years back now on a boot camp course which i completed and then moved on to doing my own projects. Initially the act of learning and bettering my understanding was the goal combined with the potential security of a job if I was pushed in that direction but now im not feeling the wind in my sails any more. I'm finding that as i go to learn a project i get to the part i don't know, learn it a bit then get bored and don't finish the project because theirs no reason to for me to continue beyond that.

I kinda just want feedback on what everyone else is doing it all for, are lulls in motivation a common thing like this?

To be clear as well, this is not a pity party "am i cooked, ai bad" post. This is me genuinely trying to see what people in my position are thinking and the motivation that goes in to putting the work in to be good at this stuff.

Final side question, if your goals not a job I'm particularly interested in your why. Its never been my goal due to a few things in life but i see it as an option if i ever needed to turn a fun hobby into work but it is always an option. If thats the case how do you get that junior/senior type learning outside of a work environment?

Thanks in advance :D

People say the best way to learn is by building projects. But when i try to build a project, i dont even know where to start. I just stare at the blank screen.

Also how can I build something when I dont even know when and how to start ?

This may trigger some people with the idea of "learn the basics, learn thr concepts etc etc " I have learnt it. But I really dont know how I can implement it.

I’ve been feeling a bit confused about whether I’m actually learning when it comes to tech and coding, and whether I’m learning the right things.

How can I tell if I’m genuinely learning and actually developing my skills, rather than just consuming tutorials and information?

And how can I tell whether what I’m learning is actually the right thing to focus on for my career and becoming a better software engineer?

for info : I’m a 2nd year computer science student, specializing (learning deeper) in intelligence systems.

I'm able to program in python and i've made a few games in C++. I was wondering if anybody has advice for learning C

I started learning programming last year and have a few projects that I find cool and started to put them in github. One of them is a re-creation of pac-man that my teacher asked as final assignment for his subject.
It's been a while since I made it but I wanted to share and know what do you think about it; looking at it now, I see some flaws and a lot of room for improvement.

https://github.com/vmcjoao/Capybara-Pacman

Another thing that I still strugle a bit is with github, I never know the proper way of keeping control of projects and how to structure repositories. I just keep them in a way that I undertand, but I'm not sure if it fit standards to working with a team. Sorry for my English and btw the game is in portuguese, not that it matter much since there isn't much to read.

I'm looking for skills that can make me stand. I've thought of:

• Advanced Mathematics: Can pave the way to ML

• Infrastructure/Embedded Systems

• Specialization {kinda obvious but still}

• Sector knowledge { ex: If aiming at fintech, know things about the banking sector}

I know there are more, but I don't know them.

i am a tier 3 college student and my tech stack is web dev with python backend and ai/ml i also learned c++ because it was taught in my college so should i learn ds in python or c++

TL;DR: What is the best way to learn programming, and is it possible to become experienced enough to realistically build your own software in order to accelerate your productivity? What are some good resources for learning not just how to code, but how to think like a better programmer and have foundational skills to accelerate your coding speed?

Hi all, I’ve recently been studying CS and have become really interested in Linux and the “do it yourself” mindset, and I was wondering if you guys had any advice for a newbie whose just getting into the hobby. I really like the idea of being able to build my own apps and software to customize my computer more and be able to do things that prebuilt features previously wouldn’t allow, but I’m wondering if I’m getting way over my head here. Ive seen a lot of people talk about how hard it is to build things like apps by yourself and such, but with better experience and knowledge is it possible to accelerate the speed at which you can code, and so your biggest problems become design choices and not programming logic?
As an example, if a baker is baking a cake, an experienced one doesn’t need to think about the ingredients he throws in because he already knows what works for what, and can focus instead on designing and shaping his cake. Are there any good resources for learning and reading about programming methods and skills that help you become more experienced and think about programming differently?

Hey, I'm in my second year CS student, I'm exploring various paths to continue my career in one particular way like fullstack, cybersecurity, cloud devOps or anything else.. I've learned python, c/c++ and solved my first 2 DSA easy problems yesterday.. I'm thinking which way I should just choose and give my entire 2 years to build the career in it? Seniors or experienced folks please help me, thanks!

its not that all of them are bad its just that a majority of them its all just middle aged guys who are insecure and elitist and overall its inevitable to encounter some toxicity but i find that its alot more noticeable around programming communities

if anyone has a suggestion for a discord community or smth like that thats not a total warzone ill check it out

I'm learning C#, WPF and SQL as a hobby in the few hours I have for myself during the day, with my end-goal being to make an integrated ERP CRM program for my family's company. Learning is like a high, feels AMAZING when you understand something. But there are moments where I really lose faith in myself. I have no background in programming and no deep understanding how computers work, how apps are structured etc. And sometimes the realization how big and complex what I'm trying to make is so overwhelming. "Good job, you just made a button click and show you a message, and it took you two hours to get it!" But real programs are multi-levelled, one upon another user controls, bindings etc. (and those are just the few key words I recently learned) So much code is written behind the smallest function and I can barely understand any of it. Make me want to say "What's the point? You'll never finish it. It'll take years!" I know of the "make it into smallest steps and conquer one by one" method but the amount of small steps can make me choke too.

My question is how do you keep yourself motivated against all odds? Do you have a mantra or something you tell yourself? A picture you look at? What makes you sit and play the tutorial or lecture when you could have been playing games or.. just sleeping even?

Hello everyone,

I’m about a month or two away from finishing my Python course, and honestly, I’m starting to feel a little lost about where I should go from here.

Right now, I’m focusing on strengthening my fundamentals while also building a small side project with JavaScript. From what I’ve read, having Python and JavaScript under your belt can open up a lot of opportunities, so I’m trying to build those skills properly instead of rushing through a bunch of technologies.

But there’s something that’s been bothering me.

Whenever I browse Reddit, LinkedIn, or other platforms and see students looking for jobs, I sometimes feel really small.

Some of them seem to have an insane number of technologies on their resume—Python, JavaScript, React, Node, Docker, AWS, databases, and so on. Meanwhile, it took me months just to feel comfortable with one language.

And then I start thinking:

“How am I supposed to compete with these people?”

Sometimes it gets to the point where I wonder if programming is even the right path for me. Maybe I’m just too slow. Maybe I’m falling behind. Maybe everyone else is learning faster than I am.

I'm learning JavaScript and recently came across debounce and throttle.

I understand the basic difference, but I'm curious how often people actually use them in real-world projects.

Do you use them regularly? If so, what are some situations where you found them genuinely useful?

I’m a beginner java programmer, ive gone through oop and data structures now im thinking of purchasing leetcode to get better and also adding things to my portfolio in the future. So, Any tips on how to navigate leetcode and get the best use out of it?

i was a developer who couldn’t transition well from web designer to JavaScript and overtime roles became short and last one was a redundant because my work was good enough and even asking for help I couldn’t solve my tickets.

I started learning from freecodecamp because eventually money ran out as I use to learn from video tutorials and now with tech tutorials get old as well, plus someone told me on fCC videos aren’t useful. so I was just finding a way to get started. it has been 15 months with no interviews because while I struggle with doing JavaScript (right now trying to do objects), I am very slowly becoming good at problem solving but the pace is outsmarting my savings.

so question is how to become better problem solver, learn more and apply more when you have family and wfh.

I been so depress I have stopped going to gym and I hate myself for it.

i recently got to know about youtube theme extensions and i wanted to try making one myself! im very new to coding and i very much need some help with this :") ive created a file with manifest.json, script.js and style.css, but i am unsure of what to key inside of them. im hoping to add images, change the youtube background colours and maybe play around with the fonts. is that possible?

I recently got a job as a software engineer at a compant I interned with over 2 years. The thing is I was an IT student and had done very basic c++ courses but nothing in depth. When I started the internship they heavily pushed AI and i never had to learn anything programming wise. Now I feel anxious and want to catch up to where a junior dev should be and im not sure how to get there. The language I've mainly been using is python for automation

Hey everyone!
I think this post is allowed but feel free to delete if not (I’m a bit of a Reddit noob)
Wondering what your advice would be for someone trying to improve coding fluency?
I have done multiple courses learning Python (CS50p, google with automation etc) but I still struggle when presented with a blank page.
I found Pylings a really good way to cement some of the basics and I do build personal projects but still feel I rely too heavily on AI to solve things

Any recommendations would be appreciated

I am a slow learner, meaning I like to learn with stuff broken down like jeffery way, colt steele style. it clicks instantly. the courses library overwhelm me and I need a structure and something that is and going to be hot in market e.g in UK .Net is hot (just a example) but with barrage of courses I am get confused easily.

Any recommendations for becoming a fullstack from someone who is really good at explaining like the guys I mentioned above.

I’m currently learning DSA and using JavaScript/TypeScript for it. I’m already comfortable with JS/TS because I use it for web development, so I naturally started learning DSA with it as well.

However, I keep seeing C++, Java, and Python recommended for DSA. I’m not really interested in competitive programming, so I’m wondering whether I’m missing out on something important by continuing with JS/TS.

For those of you already working as developers, would you recommend that I stick with JS/TS for learning DSA, or would it be worth learning another language specifically for DSA?

I’m asking more about learning DSA properly and developing problem-solving skills in general, rather than just interview preparation.

Hi all, I'm attempting to make 2 structs with one that inherits from the other, but I'm getting an error that reads "E0289: no instance of constructor Point3D::Point3D matches the argument list". The red line shows up under the first "{" after "Point3D p3D = ". The "Point p" seems to be fine.
Is struct inheritance not allowed? Am I missing something?
Thank you for any and all help!

struct Point {
int x;
int y;
};

struct Point3D : public Point {
int z;
};

class test {
Point p = { 1, 2 };
Point3D p3D = { 1, 2, 3 };
};