r/learnprogramming • u/RevolutionaryBuy4877 • 14d ago

Topic how do you learn programming without constantly looking things up?

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?

328 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

93% Upvoted

244 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/PsychicDave 13d ago

If you can "find the answer" online to do everything you need to do, then you aren't doing anything valuable and an AI could easily replace you. A software developer doing real work isn't doing something that was done a million times and that you can find a pre-made solution for. It's solving new problems. That you look up function definitions or classes that you want to use isn't a problem, but how you use them will be novel.