Everything I see is always front end web development. In the world of programming, there are many far more interesting fields than changing button colors. So I'm just saying, don't make the same mistake I did and explore around, do your research on the different types of programming before committing to a path. If you wanna do web dev that's fine but don't think that's your only option. The Internet can teach you anything.

I've heard from friends and even saw memes on senior devs using google for coding. It's not wrong in any way, but I'm curious to know if this is actually the case.

So I've been working as an API dev for the past 6 months in a large company. It's quite interesting to see how much different it is from what I thought.

Experience

At first I presumed that in corporate, everything was super strict based on how to write your code perfectly, how to use the right tools effectively and everything had to be THEIR way. But in my experience (and please note that I do understand this differs from company to company) it's completely different. People give me the job, expect me to figure it out based on security standards and done.

Then when I have questions, I approach a senior and half the time he's not even sure, so we're kind of just stackoverflowing together while he tries to connect the dots in places where I can't.

The point

The reason for me sharing this is to tell you that if you're anything like me, there's no need to worry. If you love to learn and are passionate about programming, it's literally just like a Computer Science class, but with a salary.

I have spent ~5 years just blindly following tutorials, YouTube videos, courses, etc, with nothing to show for! I am unemployed, I have no GitHub portfolio or any other project, just a BSc degree in CS which is worthless without experience.

I got accepted into a great local bootcamp, but I just left it, I don't want any courses, any youtube videos, even if I get the best content online, I don't want it anymore, I just want to build something.

My goal with this post is to make you guys know how bad a feeling this is! Just try to work on something, practice and always practice! Don't get stuck learning things without ever applying them.

EDIT: This post blew up. I tried to read every single comment out there, thanks to everyone for trying to help or provide tips on how to overcome this. The thing is, I am from Iraq (As some comments mentioned), living in a city with practically no job openings for ANY type of developer, moving out of my city is not a viable option, because when I relocate I want to relocate to somewhere with a better life quality not to a terrible city in my own country, and the city with most jobs has a terrible life quality unfortunately. My only option is to get remote jobs, and I can't do that as a Junior. Whyat I think I am doing wrong is keeping my portfolio empty, my GitHub account is ATM empty, because I have no project ideas to work on, my plan is to build enough of an experience just to let me find ANY type of job abroad in any country in the EU/UK/US, and relocate there.

****UPDATE AT THE BOTTOM****

01/09/2022

Let me just share what to me is an important milestone in my web dev journey.

Around Christmas time, I purchased a Udemy web development course, but I wasn't able to start it until the new year because I got covid. Since then, I've been dedicating around 6-8 hours everyday (breaks included) to do my Udemy course, aiming to finish at least 1 module (including the projects and exercises) per day. I'm now about to start the 13th module (out of 33~), and I decided to do a simple project using the HTML, CSS, and Javascript I've learned so far.

Not gonna lie, I didn't expect for starting from scratch to be so complicated. I think I spent a good 80% of my time organizing my thoughts and doing the CSS. I had to scrap my entire code a couple of times because I was getting confused about everything, and I almost quit the project. Granted, it is a VERY simple project, but I guess my lack of experience just took over me. After around half a day (time spent on snack breaks, naps, and blankly staring into space included), I finally finished my project and I uploaded it to GitHub.

Earlier in the day, I was running into complications with things that I didn't think I'd even have problems with. It definitely made me question, considering that I was having trouble with such basic things (e.g., centering stuff), if I really could do this whole web dev thing. Well, last night, I turned off my laptop after a day's worth of frustrations and moments of demotivation, I lied down on my bed, then I opened my project on my phone. Seeing my work out there, I felt a surge of contentment and excitement that I have never felt before. I couldn't stop smiling while looking at the project that I did....from scratch(!!!), and that's when I knew in myself that, at the very least, this whole thing is worth trying.

So to anyone out there who's just starting out without any prior coding experience, like me, just know that it gets better. I know it sounds cliché, but it's cliché for a reason.

Link to my project

Github Repository

PS - Please feel free to make comments on my code/any issues or bugs that may arise while using the site. Thank you!!

-------UPDATE--------

01/11/2022

Thank you all so much for all the wonderful feedback and suggestions on my first web dev project! You all seriously encouraged me so much to continue learning and creating projects this early on. It really warms my heart seeing all the people whom I inspired to either start or continue learning.

With all that said, may I present to you an updated version of my Dice Randomizer project. I tried to take as much of your feedback as possible, especially the regarding the functionalities and the use of for loops. I know it's not the cleanest code out there, and I could probably refactor my CSS and JS code to make them more a lot more concise and DRY (I admit, a lot of my CSS code got repeated over and over), but I think I'll just move on to do another project right now. As some of you may know, I'm currently on a semestral break in college, so I'm trying to get as much experience as possible of out my short break. And I think moving onto another project is the best way to do that.

I hope you will all enjoy using my little project as much as I enjoyed coding it. Cheers!

GitHub Repo

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Currently im teaching myself (with the help of freecodingcamp, CodeAcademy & Documentation) Web Design with a bit of server side. I made pages in the past with simple html + css and things like Wordpress for money and now I want to step up my game a bit. Im always looking for stories of other people who maybe share a bit of the same story!

Why did you started to self learn programming?

Are you just learning it for you for your own projects or to make money with it?

I was really excited when I started learning how to program. As I went further down this rabbit hole, however, I noticed how most people agree that the majority of coders just copy-paste code or have to look up language documentation every few minutes. Cloaked in my own naivety, I assumed it was just what bad programmers did. After a few more episodes of skimming through forums on stack overflow or Reddit, it appears to me that every programmer does this.

I thought I would love a job as a software engineer. I thought I would constantly be learning new algorithms, and new syntax whilst finding ways to skillfully implement them in my work without the need to look up anything. However, it looks like I'm going to be sitting at a desk all day, scrolling through stack overflow and copying code snippets only so I can groan in frustration when new bugs come with them.

Believe me, I don't mind debugging - it challenges me, but I'd rather write a function from scratch than have to copy somebody else's work because I'm not clever enough to come up with the same thing in the first place.

How accurate are my findings? I'd love to hear that programming isn't like this, but I'm pretty certain this take isn't far from the truth.

Edit: Thanks to everyone who replied! I really appreciate all the comments and yes, I'm obviously looking at things from a different perspective now. Some comments suggested that I'm a cocky programmer who thinks he knows everything: I assure you, I'm only just crossing the bridges between a beginner and an intermediate programmer. I don't know much of anything; that I can say.

I can write my own small projects fine and understand the logic as I go, but whenever I open someone else's codebase, even something fairly simple, I get lost fast. Too many files, functions calling other functions I have to jump around to find, and no idea where the "start" of the logic actually is.

I know this is probably just a skill that comes with time, but I'm wondering if there's a better way to practice it instead of just staring at repos feeling confused. Do you start from the entry point and trace forward, or pick one function you care about and trace backward? Do you use any tools to help visualize how files connect, or is it mostly just patience and note taking?

For some context behind this question, I am in second year of my CS degree. 2 days ago I started learning C++ and I was having organizing my code so I asked you guys if GitHub is the best way to save code. The response and advice on that post was overwhelming! I took everyone's advice and started learning Git.

Not to be hyperbolic but it has changed my life since. I have since exported all my code and projects to GitHub. That got me thinking a minute ago, what other things are there that every programmer should know about? Thanks!

With all of the AI code thats out there now, I've heard people say that most code has lost the unique style of the developers. I can assume its just how they have structured the code and solved the problems but I'm not sure. If that is correct how can I have/develop that as I learn?

Hey guys , spotify's CEO said that his devs don't write code anymore since last december

do you guys still write code ?

is it true or just he tries to hype up his investors ?

Hello people.
So recently I graduated from computer science university and after two week of graduation I was able to get a job offer. My company works on custom visuals of power BI.

I had no prior experience and neither did I know JavaScript, TypeScript, D3.js or any of their tech stack or technologies yet I was still hired.

It's been 3 weeks and all I have been doing is trying to learn the tech stack and look at the codebase and try to understand what function does what. I even practice the tech stack by making my own small interactive charts and dashboard.

I am done learning the fundamentals and I even sent my progress report to my team lead. My team lead saw the message but hasn't gotten back to me. 4th week just started and I am wondering if i am even going in the right direction or at what point will i be good enough to get small tasks.

Its remote work, so I am always anxious of doing less...

I know learning is the best I can do but I am still anxious....
any advice from senior software engineers? or fellow junior software engineers? please help me understand if I am worrying too much for nothing

edit: By the end of week (Thursday) i finally got assigned to a internal Project the team is working on😋
I was worrying for no reason😅

I'm learning to build full apps and the part that confuses me most is everything before the actual coding, what database tables I need, what the API should look like, which pages exist, how users log in. How do you figure this out before you start? Do you plan it on paper, use a tool, ask AI, or just start coding and fix it later? And what went wrong when you skipped planning?

I'm just a bit curious as arrays seem like a fairly basic omission. Are there any historical/design reasons for some of the decisions like this made by the posix standard?

If theoretically you could only learn 4 programming languages (excluding SQL, Command Prompt, HTML, CSS), pick them based off how complete of a developer you would be after knowing them.

Edit: Most popular languages

1. Javascript/Typescript
2. Python
3. C++
4. Rust
5. C
6. C#
7. Java
8. Assembly
9. Haskell
10. Kotlin

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I only know JS and python, and I made this post to figure out the most loved and useful languages. From my survey, I plan on learning C++, Haskell and Rust

As I'm learning to program, working through Python Crash Course (currently on chapter 3), I'm watching videos on programming, especially the programmers I'm inspired by (mainly retro game programmer, John Carmack, Carol Shaw, Richard Garriott, etc.), and I've come across this video, about how a good portion of these guys started in BASIC, and the value of learning to program with it.

Now, I'm not learning BASIC, I wanna make games in Godot, Godot uses GDScript, which is based on Python, but the idea of using BASIC to learn programming, what you guys think about it?

Disclamer: I'm learning C. I have no intention to learn Assembly for now.

I started to learn programming, just bought "C Programming: A Modern Approach" by K.N. King, but as I'm looking at these lower programming languages, I've come acroos a book called "Programming From the Ground Up" by Jonathan Bartlett, which reccomends learning Assembly as a first language.

What you guys think of that idea? Does it have any value, or is it too overkill?

First of all, thanks to everyone who replied to my post yesterday. I read all the comments and they gave me a lot to think about.

There’s something else I’ve been thinking about though.

I really like making things.

I enjoy video editing, and I especially love messing around with gadgets and computers. I like trying new devices, changing settings, figuring out how things work, and creating stuff.

So I feel like programming should be something I enjoy too, because it lets you build almost anything.

And I used to enjoy it more.

But recently, I just don’t find programming that fun anymore.

I’ll start coding, work for a little while, and then I’ll end up lying on the couch watching Netflix instead.

I also get frustrated really easily when I don’t understand something.

This happens especially when I use AI to build something and the project becomes way more complicated than what I actually understand.

Suddenly there are tons of database schemas, files, abstractions, types, and complicated code that I didn’t really write or design myself.

The project might work, but I look at it and think, “I have no idea what half of this is doing.”

Then I get annoyed and don’t even want to continue.

Sometimes I wonder if I actually like programming, or if I only like the idea of being able to make software.

Maybe I like making things, but not programming itself.

Or maybe using AI from such an early stage made me skip the part where programming actually becomes satisfying, because I never properly learned how to solve problems by myself.

I’m still in high school, so I know I have plenty of time to learn. But lately I’ve started wondering:

Is this a normal phase when learning programming?

Have any of you gone through a period where coding just stopped being fun?

How can I tell the difference between “this is difficult and I need to push through it” and “maybe programming just isn’t for me”?

I don’t want to force myself to become a programmer just because I’ve already spent years doing it.

But at the same time, I don’t want to give up on something I might actually enjoy if I learned it differently.

When u guys start a new project thinking it wont be very hard, but then you quickly need to learn new topics, and start reading documentation and watching tutorials, but they make it even more confusing because there are things u dont understand there, and you have to search the things u dont understand which leads u deeper into a loop of learning the fundamentals, of something you thought would be easy, and what was supposed to be a week of learning turns into weeks or a month.

i hope you guys understand what im trying to say lol.

Maybe this is a common thing. I don't usually post, but this time I felt like I had to ask for advice or similar experiencies and how to deal with it.

I've been programming for about 4 years already, I have my company, I'm the only programmer, we've been developing a web app for about 3 years, and we even recently got financed by the government (not by much, but enough to raise or salaries and hire a marketing person).

I began being pretty junior, and now by being the sole developer and handling everything (tech decisions, frontend, backend, database, testing, cloud, devops, all the usual stuff) by myself, I think I can handle myself pretty well now.

The thing is, I think I'm getting burned out. Every new feature I get asked to do, may be really different in terms of concept, but in the inside is ALWAYS the same: fetch some data, mutate some data, make a list of something, make a form, submit the form, test the form, upload some file, delete some file. Nothing is hard, nothing is new. Maybe I'm not burned out, but bored.

Every time I start a new feature I already know what I have to do:

• Design on paper
• Write user stories or tasks
• Start by the DB schema
• Move to backend
• Move to connections with frontend
• Move to frontend
• Along the way, test everything

Nothing is a challenge anymore like it used to, the designs are always fairly easy.

Is worth noting that I own 40% of the company and the financing that we got forces us to make features and reach goals.

I came here in hopes that some of you may be going through the same experience and how to deal with it. Thank you for reading.

And after finding the perfect teacher for me and 5 different attempts to start I am finally excited about learning coding and it's clicking I just dropped by to say don't think you will get it right away I'm 33 and I have a huge problem starting and finishing things but this time Python is going to get conquered. If I can do it then I feel it's possible for anyone who wants to

Edit: people have been asking he is Coding with Vincent on YT he teaches for free his style works for me hopefully someone else has the click moment I did

I have been trying to learn programming from since i was 15 when i had dreams of being a game developer. I signed myself up to an expensive university program with other kids around my age at the time and thats when i realized game developing wasnt anything like i pictured it would be. I was surrounded by people smarter than me and we were all learning C+. I was falling behind by the 2nd day, the teacher was moving so fast and everyone else seemed to be pacing well but me.... I have learning issues, and when my brain gets under stimulated it shuts down and i become lethargic, also i suffer from very bad brainfog. Now these issues are something ive been facing most of my adolescent life, its one of the reasons why i find it so incredibly hard to do any bit of critical thinking.

Ive continued to PUSH myself throughout the years attempting to learn python then dropping it to learn HTML/CSS/JS. Ive been working on this udemy course for 3 years now and im finally about to finish the CSS section of it which is embarrassing to say the least, and still not being able to implement most of what ive learnt. Doing the course sections were hard enough because of my brain constantly shutting down on me but even when i was engaged, i noticed my brainfog and concentration issues made it dificult for me to even debug/find a solution to the issue, then id get fatigued and give up for the rest of the day. I want to force myself to love learning, i want to force myself to know how to problem solve better because i know its going to be better for me in the long run. I want to be a developer and prove to myself that i can actually accomplish something as difficult as this, but my learning issues paired with the overflowing imposter syndrome just makes it feel so impossible. Is this something any of you can relate to? and Do you think I should give up?

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TLDR: Ive been trying to learn programming for over 6 years now, got into learning web development 3 years ago and learning at an incredibly slow pace. I face learning issues which interferes with my ability to critically think about anything and makes me feel deeply lethargic when i attempt to do anything constructive. This paired with major imposter syndrome feels as if this journey is too impossible for me. Should i give up? and Can any of you relate?

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Edit: Didnt know id get all of this feedback, im very grateful for all the upvotes and feedback everyone gave me, i read each comment and took it all into heavy consideration. Im going to try some lifestyle changes along with some other things listed in the comments below and ill see if that helps, might also get an adhd screening done when im on my feet financially. And most of all im open to trying the different learning approaches mentioned below. Ill see how things work out for me by January - February.

ALSO Thank you for my very first award, i appreciate it <3

One habit that can seriously improve your software development skills is learning to understand error messages instead of immediately copying them into AI.

Most errors already give you valuable clues:

→ What broke
→ Where it broke
→ What the program expected
→ Sometimes even why it broke

And there’s another benefit: the better you understand the error, the better you can prompt AI.

Instead of saying “fix this error”, you can explain what you think is happening, what you’ve already tried, and what behaviour you expected.

That gives AI much better context and usually leads to more accurate solutions.

Use AI to speed up debugging—not to replace the skill of debugging.

Do you usually read the error first, or send it straight to AI? 👀

Get a job? Hobby? Creating custom software?

Recently got my CS bachelors and I'm one of those people who wanted to quit along with another 1/3rd of my class. But I stuck through it for a very specific reason, and this reason is also how I influenced others to stay, so I just want to share my thoughts on this.

Combine

The beauty of computer science is much like business. You can combine it with everything. Knowing how to code is a skill you'll keep with you for the rest of your life, and unfortunately not everyone feels this way. I strongly believe that learning to code will benefit everyone, and especially those who start a business. Nearly every business requires at least a functional website and some form of analytical thinking. And those are skills that will be useful forever.

I started to hate coding. Not because I dislike coding but because I loved architecture so much more. So I simply combined and my passion for code was restored. For the past few days I've been hitting it off on Rhino trying to develop great plugins. Another friend of mine who also wanted to quit was obsessed with health & diet. So he created a website, a blog and a phone app for health. He stuck all the way through, and now coding is his hobby despite him starting to strongly to dislike it.

Conclusion

Embrace how useful coding can be even if it's not your number one pick. If you're not in your first year, rethink your decision, and you'll probably have a very useful skill that you can combine for the rest of your life. While you combine it with your ''other passion''. You may start to fall in love with programming again :)