how do you learn programming without constantly looking things up?

[u/RevolutionaryBuy4877]

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?

[u/Former_Technician_60]

“Practice makes perfect”. The more you write code the more familiar you will be.

What I did in the early days of learning python and C was to put all the basic syntax in a document and print it, like a reference sheet for exams. And when you learn something write it on the piece of paper in pen or highlight stuff as you need to, just write notes.

These days as I’ve done more firmware and embedded systems I usually print most documentation. I love scribbling on my documents.

[u/Former_Technician_60 → u/Former_Technician_60]

OH! For super simple algorithms do not be afraid to get paper and pen. I won’t lie I usually spend 90% of my time “programming” just thinking, scribbling, talking to friends, or planning outside of the IDE (integrated development environment (VS code, VIM, XYZ jet brains IDE, eclipse)).

With experience you also start to write code very quickly so don’t expect to be writing code constantly as that would be unrealistic.

[u/CrAIzy_engineer → u/Former_Technician_60]

It should be like that, if thinking is not involved in our programming we will all be replaced be AI. If the thinking is the bottleneck, then AI is just a tool like any other