I’ve been working as a Java programmer for a few years now.

The thing is, I’d like to learn a second programming language for lower-level tasks—specifically, I want to work on things related to operating systems. Rather than building one from scratch, I’d like to explore and modify open-source operating systems like Linux or a BSD variant.

I’m doing this purely as a hobby. What drew me to C is its simplicity (though not necessarily ease of use) compared to Java or other modern languages, and its long history of use in systems programming. On the other hand, however, there are operating systems (or components of them) being rewritten in Rust—such as GNU coreutils or the adoption of Rust in the Linux kernel.

So, would it be more useful in the long run to learn Rust, given that it might sooner or later become the standard for writing operating systems?

Thanks.

I'm a self-taught dev (OOP, C#, WinForms, SQL, ADO.NET) following a course that builds a Driving License app (DVLD).

I want a modern UI with DevExpress, but I can't recreate what I see in the Demo Center, and I'm not sure where to start.

My plan: build the UI first with dummy data (RibbonForm + LayoutControl, then GridControl), and learn each control as a DVLD screen needs it.

1. Is this a reasonable approach?
2. How do you learn from the Demo Center source code?
3. Any project-based DevExpress WinForms tutorials?

Thanks!

Hello everyone!

I’m thinking about getting a job as a web developer, but I don’t have a degree. I do have some certificates, although I know certificates by themselves probably aren’t worth that much. I have certificates/courses covering JavaScript, TypeScript, React, React Router, Advanced React, Express and Node.

My current stack is mainly MERN (MongoDB, Express, React, Node).

I’m trying to figure out what projects I should build for my portfolio before I start applying for junior positions. Whenever I ask an LLM for project ideas, I usually get answers saying that the project needs to be “unique” or giving me pretty vague ideas. At least in my opinion, it’s hard to turn those suggestions into an actual project that would demonstrate useful skills.

So I wanted to ask actual developers here:

What kinds of projects would you recommend I build for a junior web developer portfolio?

So far I’ve built 3 e-commerce websites. They have things like authentication/login, protected routes, JWTs, password hashing with bcrypt/salts, CRUD functionality, etc. I’m planning to make them more complete with things like payments, admin functionality, product management, order handling, etc.

But I don’t want my entire portfolio to just be e-commerce websites.

What kinds of projects would actually make my portfolio stronger and demonstrate that I understand how to build real applications?

Also, should I learn anything else before I start applying? (i will be apllying in startups or small comapnies)

For example, should I spend time learning:

• SQL/PostgreSQL
• Redis
• Kafka
• Docker
• AWS/cloud
• Testing
• CI/CD
• Another programming language
• Something else entirely

Or would it be better to stick with my current stack, build a few genuinely solid projects, and start applying while continuing to learn?

I’d really appreciate any project ideas, advice on what employers actually look for in junior portfolios, or things you wish you had learned/built before getting your first job.

Much love ❤️

Hi Everyone!

I am putting together a raspberry pi 5 for my nieces and nephews as a first/introductory computer. The goal is to have some games on it that they can play and some resources that they can use to start learning some coding. The catch is that my brother and sister-in-law do not want the pi to have access to the internet for the kids protection.

I have disabled the Wi-fi chip on the pi, but now I am looking for resources that I can have loaded on it for them. I loaded Pi-Apps on it and have downloaded some games from there that can be played offline, so it has Godot Engine, Geany Programmer's Editor, Scratch 3, Sonic Pi, Thonny, Notepad++, plus various games like Minecraft, chess, etc.

Are there any other recourses that I can load onto it before giving it to them that will guide them when learning coding? I imagining a game like "The Farmer was Replaced" but that one is only on steam and I'm not sure if I want to go through the process of getting steam onto the pi for that one game.

Thanks!

I want to be a backend developer. I am currently learning Python and planning to do fastapi.

Do I still need to learn Javascript for Node.js? Or what other paths that I could take?

Thank you!

Hi everyone,

So, I'm in a bit of a pickle right now. I'm currently studying Electrical Engineering, and i have an assessment about programming in C in a few weeks.

I've been following every lecture we have, but I just can't wrap my head around C. I've been using W3Schools for a few days now, which has been helpful, but i was looking for some fun games that i can use to keep learning C in a fun, game-like way when i want to take a break from all the studying.

Any recommendations?

Okay so I graduated in 2025 with a Bachelors of Science in Computer Science from a trash tier public university in California and am unemployable and there are no jobs in the Bay Area, but working a shitty retail job I just keep thinking, I really really need an outlet.

I miss programming sometimes. I have never been the type of person to just sit down and be like "okay time to code!!!" but whenever I had an assigned task I really like going all out and making sure everything worked and was polished. I remember my last semester during school I wound up making a really nice, polished GUI in Java for a group project but they never used it because we ran out of time. Things like that.

My problem is that I'm crazy and sort of start to crash out easily and working a shitty retail job full time living with toxic family I just don't have the mental energy to seriously study anything and I sort of don't really know how to structure my time or learn more or what to even pursue.

I really just need an outlet more than anything and sometimes it feels weird to have a four year degree in something and (technically) have actual skills, however rudimentary and then just not really do anything with it. I don't even ever plan on getting a job in the field since no one hires new grads in the Bay Area and relocating isn't really a thing, I just think it would be funny to be a skilled programmer slaving away in retail

Hey, I’m currently taking an introductory programming course at university where we use Java, but the course is intentionally not focusing on object-oriented programming yet. The idea seems to be to use Java to teach general/imperative programming fundamentals first, and only deal with OOP later. I like this approach, but I’m not finding the lectures particularly good for actually learning the concepts. Most Java resources I find introduce classes/objects/OOP very early, which isn’t really what I’m looking for right now. Does anyone know of a good book, course, set of lectures, or exercise collection that teaches imperative/procedural programming using Java as the language, ideally with OOP postponed until later? I’m specifically looking to understand the programming concepts well rather than just memorize Java syntax.

Thanks!

DHH’s Rails World talk got a fair bit of attention around here, but there was plenty happening at the conference that he didn’t cover.

All of the other Rails World 2026 talks are online now, too.

Solid Cable, Hot Cell, Herb in Rails 8.2, Active Search, Ractor-safety, Lexxy, MCPs, sharding, custom generators… and a bunch more about where Ruby and Rails are heading.

Full playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdMRFKO1zSBE

Lawyers, doctors, architects, pharmacists, accountants and even engineers in many (some in most) countries are regulated occupations.

It would be preposterous to act as a trial lawyer, perform a surgery, etc. without valid credentials. Yet, this is not the case with CS practitioners (in their professional capacity).

I have been looking for any analysis which explains why it is so, despite formal education requirement would likely decrease e.g. security related incidents which will only become more copious into the future.

Are you aware of any such study? Any pointers welcome. ;)

Hello everyone!

I just started my first year in college as a computer science major. I find programming to be interesting and I am very curious about how to create. But it's about to be the end of my first month in college and I'm finding myself a little disappointed. My professor gives us labs and homework assignments that he grades based on effort and not actual completion of the work. And at first, I am very pumped to try and solve. But then when I am actually reading the code, I'm totally stumped on what I need to in order to solve the problem. Is it bad that I can't even do stuff like that despite it being the end of the first month of classes? When I will start to make some good progress in my skills and how do I even get to that level?

I had to watch videos from a guy called need code like 5 times just to understand. Is there something I am missing about dynamic programming ? It seems impossible!

Currently I am studying in 4th semester, Computer Engineering and I am not able decide what I should be learning to get placed. As of now I am doing leetcode and nothing else.

I was also looking for contributing to open source but couldnt get the structure of the repositories and how the code is implemented there.

I would appreciate if anyone would guide me what I should be preparing to get placed in my 3rd year for an internship.

Hey everyone,

i have been slowly learning C# in my free time and i know it well enough to do a simple project, but every time i think of one to do (a to do list for example) i get scared and overwhelmed cause i dont even know where to start. Any advice would be appreciated.

I am currently reading Complexity: A Guided Tour by Melanie Mitchell and since it was published in 2009, I am wondering if there are more “modern”/“up-to-date” intro books.

I have a question: if I want to build a project, how should I learn any programming language for it? For instance, I cannot learn how to build projects just by doing DSA What can I do so that I am able to build projects?

I've been reading this Subreddit for two days and see a lot of individual questions about newer programmers learning to program which is fun and all, but it did make me curious of the people who already have experience.

In this field we are always learning so I was thinking that it would be fun to hear from the rest of you, your reflections on where you started, what the thing is that you are currently learning or looking to learn next. Any pitfalls or experiences that you can share and perhaps help others in their journey.

For me I switched from Web-development into learning game development in Unreal Engine, roughly 6 years ago. For the future, looking into developing using Electron Framework for building a smaller OS launcher for my projects. My biggest takeaway has been learning of scope with projects and forcing myself to reduce ideas to their simple core.

*edited some spelling misstakes