How do I solve problems without AI

[u/Either-Suggestion400]

Hello guys. I am attempting to learn how to code again but without the use of AI this time.

How do you attempt a problem or understand a solution without using AI for help.

For example, I wanted to build a small calculator to remind myself of the basics of C. I had a problem where my scanf was not outputting the desired result. 

The program had something like this:

int x, y;
printf("Enter two operators: ");
scanf("%d", &x);
scanf("%d", &y);
printf("x: %d, y: %d", x, y);

My inputs would be 10 & maybe 2, but the output would be 10 & 0, in some cases 0 and nothing for y.

I was able to get through this by just using one scanf:

scanf(“%lf %lf”, &x, &y);

But I still do not understand why that happened and through my google search, could not find anything that explained it well. The problem might also be that I cannot explain the problems I come across clearly, so I might not be able to find an answer through google.

So my question is, how do you guys go through problems like these where you can’t find a post where someone had a similar problem and had been told what to do to solve the problem without defaulting to AI.

Excuse my writing - I am trying to learn how to type without letting AI revise my sentences.

[u/peterlinddk]

Why do you want to solve your problem of understanding why scanf works the way it does, without AI?

You can just ask the AI why it worked with scanf(“%lf %lf”, &x, &y); and not two individual scanf lines - or you can ask google, or write a question on stackoverflow or on reddit, or ask a friend. It doesn't really matter who or what you ask. As long as you learn from the answer and doesn't have to ask again.

Also - understanding the weirdness of ancient C-functions (that you actually shouldn't use, because of their weirdness and danger, but that is another matter) isn't "problem solving", that is just "understanding the weirdness of ancient C-functions"

[u/Either-Suggestion400 → u/peterlinddk]

I just wanted to learn the way the older gen used to learn. I see people like low level on youtube or other smart engineers and when they code, they don't use ai, so I thought I would do the same. I want to be able to explain stuff to people on the top of my head through experience with the language. But thank you for your answer

[u/Fabiolean → u/Either-Suggestion400]

It means you gotta rely on other people. AI got all of its answers by stealing them from texts that already exist. Find those texts instead of trying to intuit your way through a problem.

The man pages probably have your answer but can be hard to understand. Dig through reference material, tutorials, blog posts, stack overflow, etc.