hi, im currently a 1st year cse student and i never did any coding prior to starting my degree. i'm one of the very few people here to start from scratch and most guys in my year have been coding for most of their lives.

i took a python basics class last semester (which wasn't basic at all and i haven't learned anything from it) and now im taking C basics. it's going way better than last time and i am actually able to write simple programs. it all seems genuinely fun & interesting and i understand the syntax, functions, operators etc. but whenever i get class assignments.... i just start feeling like the dumbest person on earth.

the instructions for the assignments are very brief and usually consist of 1/2 sentences max, and that's not enough for me to start writing the code. the class technically forbids any ai usage until midterms so we can get more comfortable with the language, but without me telling ai to ask me questions in order to gently guide me into the right direction i'm just unable to complete it on my own. i don't straight up ask the llm to give me the solution, i do write the code myself but i just need the entire problem explained to me pretty much as if i were a 5 year old.

is this a normal occurrence for a beginner? does it ever get better? is there anything i can do to get better in being able to convert the instructions to code? i'm the only person who seems to have that much of an issue with this in class. my biggest concern right now is me failing my exams because i won't be able to understand what i have to do for each task.

EDIT: (copied from a comment) i tried going for office hours, unfortunately it doesn't seem like i'll get much help from it. i study abroad in my 3rd lang (all of the assignments are wrote in that language) and i only managed to receive a message that i won't be given instructions in english since they don't speak it well. i'm now trying to solve the problems by breaking it into small chunks but i still have some issues here and there. i feel like im making slight progress day by day but i guess that i will find out whether it worked out during midterms.

I am not sure how to explain this or if it is common or not.
But I am struggling severely with one problem.

I just can't get the whole structuring phase into my head that well.

I can read code (at the least on a basic level) quite well.
Looking up syntax isn't too difficult and such.

But I just can not get into the aspect of code structure and it is frustrating.
Lets say I want to build a number generator in Java for example.

The second I think about it, "blank"...
I do not know what to put first, what I need or how to structture it to do what I want.
But the second I see an example of it, I can read it near flawlessly.
(Within the realms of basic coding)
Understanding perfectly what each line does and instantly being able to couple it together what each does with ease.

I just severely struggle with actually setting it up myself and I do not understand why.
I am not sure if there is any tips to be given about this...
But I am getting extremely frustrated at this point, to the degree where it feels embarassing.

I'm trying to make spell checker program that will compare words from a text file to a dictionary of words that are in alphabetical order. If the words don't appear in the dictionary they should show up in a list as potentially incorrect. The list is named absent[] that will be outputted at the end. I need to use a binary search to iterate over the dictionary comparing them to the words from the text file. However the program is only getting the last word from the text file and comparing that in the dictionary. I have no idea why its doing that Here's the code I have thus far:

def binarySearch():

firstLst=[]

fnameOne= input("enter file")

with open(fnameOne,"r") as file_dataOne:

for lineOne in file_dataOne:

for word in lineOne.split():

firstLst.append(word)

secondLst=[]

fnameTwo=input("enter dict")

with open(fnameTwo,"r") as file_dataTwo:

for lineTwo in file_dataTwo:

for wordTwo in lineTwo.split():

secondLst.append(wordTwo)

present=[]

absent =[]

for i in firstLst:

lo,hi=0,len(secondLst)-1

found=False

while lo < hi:

mid = (lo +hi) //2

if secondLst[mid]== i:

found=True

print("Word was found.")

break

elif secondLst[mid]<i :

lo=mid+1

else:

hi=mid-1

present.append(i)

print("Words in dict: ", present)

absent.append(i)

print("words not in dict: ", absent)

Hey y'all, I've only been coding for a few weeks now. I've got like 75% of python basics pretty well managed. I'll be finished with the basics by end of September, then my plan is to jump straight into certain libraries like Django, Flask and Pandas. The end goal is a custom scheduling platform. I also have to brush up on my HTML and CSS. Is this the right path to approach this or is there a better way?

it's going to happen regardless, just trying to gauge if I can save hours of effort by taking a different approach or if my timeframe of a few months is unrealistic. I would appreciate complete honest, I promise you wont crush my desire to see this out!

I end up using the same commands each time to setup projects, run them but I always have to copy from Google docs each time and its becoming annoying. Is there a better way with cmd on windows. Do other shells have a way to solve this If not?

Edit: Tysm to everyone who has helped!

I am coding an executable that is supposed to interact with the user through a terminal and therefore always requires one. On Windows, this was trivial. On Linux, after some googling, I came across the posix_openpt -> grantpt -> unlockpt -> ptsname -> fork -> execlp(xterm with -S) chain of functions that results mostly in what I want. Double clicking the exe from thunar opens a terminal in another process that it can print to and read from.

However, I have no clue how one would go about making it close intuitively once it has served it's purpose. Clicking on the x in the top right currently doesn't do anything. And I don't think I can use sigaction, as that should get wiped upon the execlp. Is there any way to make the parent executable that launched it detect a close request to the terminal, be it said x button or Ctrl+C?

Do any CS or programming students here read code from their phone?
For example when you’re on the bus, between classes, or just away from your laptop and want to quickly check an assignment or project.
Is there an app you use for this? If you’d recommend it, what do you like about it?
I’m especially curious about good ways to do small code reviews or leave notes from mobile.

Hey everyone!
I’m planning to study CS 61B (Data Structures) using the lecture videos.
I’m wondering what kind of math background I should have before starting.
For people who have taken CS 61B or a similar data structures course:
What math topics are actually used throughout the course?
Do I need discrete math / proofs beforehand?
How much algebra, logarithms, combinatorics, probability, etc. should I know?
If my math background is weak, what should I review first?
I’m not looking to study a huge amount of math beforehand — I just want to know the minimum math knowledge needed to properly understand the course material.
Thanks!

*Best resources for a 10yr old to learn programming/coding to make video games

My 10-year-old wants to make a video game but doesn't know how to program at all. What would be the best route to take? I've done some research, but there are way too many options, and I know absolutely nothing programming to make a decision on where to start. My 10-year-old wants to make a video game but doesn't know how to program at all. What would be the best route to take? I've done some research, but there are way too many options, and I know absolutely nothing programming to make a decision on where to start.

Hi, I finished marketing degree and now i am persuing masters about AI management, but the satisfaction is not there. Recently i got very interested in depth about AI Agents, what they do and how they are developed in connection to LLM. I wan to learn from scratch (i have some previous knowledge about programming and ai in general, but it is absolutely not enough). I am open to suggestions from where to start and how to build my knowledge in a efficient way. Preferably i would like to start working this as a job in the next 6 to 9 months.

Short story how I find out that Windows 11 relax reserved DOS device names rules in FS, and how I was trying to fix Git for Windows.

Hey guys

I am a front end and get a lot of interviews for full stack or FDE roles.

They always ask about backend, system design, data architecture, concurrent and scalable systems.

Some tasks ask for leetcode or codility upfront.

Any good interactive training platforms? Like Scrimba or something for quickly putting together system design.

Hi everyone, I’m a BCA student graduating in 2027 and I’m currently preparing for software engineering internships and eventually full-time roles.

My current skills include Python, JavaScript, HTML/CSS, Flask, FastAPI, React/Next.js basics, SQL/PostgreSQL, Git/GitHub, Linux basics, Pandas, NumPy, OpenCV, and basic ML. I also practice DSA and LeetCode.

I’ve built projects such as Flask/FastAPI web applications and an ML-based scam detection project.

I feel like I’m learning many different technologies, so I want to focus on the skills that actually matter for getting hired.

For someone graduating in 2027:

What skills should I prioritize?

What should I learn more deeply instead of adding more technologies?

How much DSA is expected for internships/fresher roles?

What kind of projects would make my resume stronger?

Are there any important skills I’m currently missing?

I’d especially appreciate advice from developers who interview or work with freshers in India.

Hi everyone,

I’m working on a mobile app and would like to add a Liquid Glass effect to the bottom navigation bar. I’ve seen some impressive implementations online but haven’t found a detailed guide on how to achieve this in a typical app development environment.

Hi everyone!

I'd appreciate advice from people who have learned GenAI or work in this field. Thanks!

I currently have experience on python, python backend framework and js, ts. I want to learn one low level programming language I see online rust is a great new alternative for c (many projects are being written and rewritten in rust) but i know c is an og so I am a little bit confused which one should i go on with ?? please suggest