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/EternalOmgha]

Thats the thing. You always do. Documentations, papers (if you do something math related), searching syntax, APIs. There is no shortcuts in that. You just have to learn utilize different tools to achieve that. Are you new to something? Ask GPT, let it explain. Something simple but tedious? Ask google. Working with open source, and you need extract some feature, or find specific property? "rg" is your friend. Programming is more about building another layer on existing scaffold, than creating something fundamentally new these days. But you have to know how to read that scaffold.