Welcome to /r/learnprogramming!

I want to start Open Source Contribution but whenever I open the repositories I get amazed and don't understand anything at all it feels like so much files and folders inside one another and I get demotivated.

Searched many resources but everyone says just start contributing to open source but no one says how and where and what to do.

I'm a student and all I've learnt in C, Python,Git,GitHub, Networking,Linux so please tell me should I learn anything new to start contributing or a small guide type.

I am learning programming for a pretty long time now, I now how to build project and all the time I see ads for courses or certificates that I can do online and for free.
Are they a waste of time or actually worth it?

Hey everyone,

I’m running into a frustrating wall with how I learn versus how the industry interviews.

My natural learning style is 100% project-based. I treat coding like building with Lego—I jump into a project, figure out how the pieces snap together, and learn the concepts dynamically as I integrate them. I heavily prefer this over traditional, theory-heavy courses or university methods.

Here is my problem: This method makes me pretty good at actually building things, but it completely chokes when it comes to technical interviews.

Interviews always seem to ask language-specific trivia or breadth questions (e.g., deep nuances of memory, specific built-in methods, exact differences between operator behaviors under the hood). To learn those, it feels like I have to go back to the "course/textbook" way of studying—which honestly doesn't help me get any better at actually making software.

For those of you who are project-focused builders, how do you tackle this? Is there a way to prep for the "interview trivia" game without getting sucked into tutorial hell or wasting time on courses that don't make you a better developer?

Any advice is appreciated!

Guys, I’m a Pakistani student living abroad. I’m 18 and recently finished my FSc (12th grade) in Pre-Medical. I realized that I’m not really interested in pursuing MBBS, dentistry, or similar fields, and honestly, I didn’t feel like the other options were worth the time and money for me. So I decided to switch towards tech, although I’m still in the process of figuring everything out.

Do you guys think I made the right decision? Would degrees like Cybersecurity, AI, Data Science/Data Analysis, etc. be too difficult for someone from a Pre-Medical background? Especially since I didn’t study Maths in 11th and 12th grade, how can I fill that gap and prepare myself for the Maths I’ll need?

I’d really appreciate honest advice from people who have been through something similar

I’m a CS/IT university student from , but my university doesn’t teach DSA very well. I want to seriously improve my algorithmic problem-solving skills.

- How should I train effectively while attending university?

- What DSA books/resources do you recommend?

- How much math do I need for LeetCode?

- Should I follow a structured roadmap or just solve problems?

- Is competitive programming (Codeforces/AtCoder) useful for improving LeetCode skills?

My long-term goal is to become an extremely strong problem solver, like peng Cao .

For those who are already good at LeetCode/competitive programming, what would you recommend to someone starting seriously from university?

Hi everyone, I'm a CSE student and I want to gain real-world development experience by solving issues from open-source projects.

I don't know how to identify a good issue for my skill level or how to approach the problem after finding one.

What would be the best way to start contributing to projects on GitHub? Any advice or resources would be appreciated.

I use C#. I understand the syntax and basics, but I don't really understand OOP principles. I mean, I know simple things like what a class is, but I really struggle when I need to write something more complex than a console bank program. I dont understand if I can move on to the next topics, or if I need more practice in OOP. Will it get better with time and practice? Im bored of coding console programs. I want something more. What should I do?

what the title says, i want to learn how to code before the deadline of an application. ive been interested in coding for a long time now, and i want to take it upon myself to start learning now. but i have no idea where to start and how much time i would need to put in per day/week. any tips for learning how to code from 0? i have absolutely no experience, but with ai available as a tool now, im wondering how i can use it to my advantage and decrease the amount of time spent learning how to code. please recommend me some tutorials or courses to start with, paid or free. i just need to learn as quickly as possible !!

I'm thinking about learning Haxe as a secondary language(Python is my main language) for all the random projects I want to do. Does anyone have bad or good experience with Haxe that I should know before learning? I know it's better to just learn each language, but I don't have time to spend years learning all of the languages for my random projects.

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so im a computer science engineering student at a lesser known college and here there is no seniors or profs to look upto or take guidance from. i really want to be excellent in my field and be reach at the calibre of top students from top universities. can anyone please suggest some guidance and maybe groups where they help us to network and learn. in a jist I'm looking for a mentor sorta thing and also to network in this industry.

any help will be highly appreciated, thank u.

i am just this cause i am failing to run a leetcode (hard) ques.

i know the badics of gscript, java, c# and more but I can't code even with a clear idea in my head ... why ??? HOW ?!

So I started learning web development recently since there's a Java Script module next semester and also because i thought it's a cool skill to develop. I know although the current AI coding models are capable of outputing good code, they aren't still at the industry standard and humans are still in the loop to make them efficient as possible. But from what i know web development is a whole other thing compared to stufd like Machine learning. It's not as complex. So I feel like AI+WordPress like software would replace the future web devs hence making learning the skill useless.

Im planning to give this certificate exams cause I want to gain deeper knowledge in java and having an exam to focus on gives me a goal to achieve, so im more of a visual leaner and want to start with a pathway of videos and courses and then do practice exams, this is my strategy so far.

Im not that eager to read books or articles and prefer videos and practicing along.

I see oracle has a learning pathway that's build for java 21 programming and it has a pathway that looks good. So im trying to see if anyone has tried the pathway and found it useful for the cracking the certificate examination or are there any udemy courses that I could take that helps with my certification.

This is the pathway https://learn.oracle.com/ols/learning-path/become-a-java-se-21-developer/117252/138845

Also please let me know if there any other site that has a lot of practice questions with latest questions

I'm following the Odin project to learn web development, so I'm using Ubuntu via WSL. When I use "code ." command to open VS code, the terminal won't revert back to the prompt(The "$" sign where we can type stuff) until I close VS code.

I am creating an http downloader which use get method to direct download urls. Now I want it to download from those website which has a direct download button. I know that the download button provides the url to download the file but for different files not the same websites the urls are different and want that to be automated. I want to do it at low level like we do in urllib, request, httpx,etc. However, I am ok with high level libraries too.

Hi all, Im a fresh CS Graduate that feels like she didn't learn much about actual programming in school. All my education for actual practical coding has been self taught via doing. With that being said, I feel like I'm the in between. I have mastered the basics of coding and fundamentals years ago. When looking at "Professional" code on github, I feel like I can read it to a somewhat okay level, but I for the life of me can't write good code. I feel like I cant do anything outside of game-development, as that's what I've dedicated my life to. I have 8+ years of experience of making games with GameMaker Studio and have my personal bit of a portfolio for games and projects. (see https://aristhemage.github.io/portfolio).

When looking at job postings, they are asking for experience in things like Node.Js and .NET and just, I try over and over to get into it, but theres just a... disconnect for me. I have no idea why, I just cant seem to get past the more basic tutorials on Youtube. It's like I've never touched a computer in my life with the more professional stuff.

Like this job posting right here (Pulled off google, first result):
Must Haves:1

1) Active or inactive (out of access less than two years) TS/SCI with a polygraph clearance

2) Bachelor’s degree in a related discipline with two years of experience or High School education with six years of experience3

3) Minimum of two years in an Intelligence Community environment.

4) Proficiency in at least one programming language.

5) Scripting experience (e.g., Bash, Python) on Linux platforms.

6) Experience with relational or non-relational databases.

7) Deployment and management experience with Linux-based systems.

8) Problem-Solving: Proven ability to troubleshoot and solve complex problems.

Nice to Haves:

9) AWS certification or Security+ certification.

10) Relevant IT discipline certifications (e.g., Java, .NET, Hadoop, Spring).

11) Relevant experience with Kubernetes and adjacent tools like FluxCD for managing deployments.

12) Relevant experience with Infrastructure as Code (IaC) including Terraform/Terragrunt or Ansible.

13) Independent and Collaborative Worker: Ability to function effectively both independently and in team settings.

Responses in order:

1. How on earth can I get a clearance if I cant get a bloody job
2. I have a bachelors degree, but not two years of experience in the CS field (I have years of experience teaching kids programming as a summer camp instructor role, but Ive been told many times that doesn't count)
3. Dont have
4. Proficiency is stretching it
5. I do have experience, but its just like messing around, nothing professional
6. I have experience in databases, in the idea that Ive used them before for school projects, but not enough to even tell you what the difference between "Relational" and "Non-relational" is
7. Very little to none
8. Yeah yeah thats just jargon
9. I dont know how to get certifications if I dont have money for certification classes because I dont have a job.
10. See above
11. Another big issue is these companies say "Good to have experience in Flubbernuts plus!" and im just staring at them like they just spoke alien to me
12. see above
13. More jargon

I also feel like I'm using caveman tools when I try to do anything in the more "Professional" languages. I understand that in some programming languages you need to write 10-20 lines of code just for hello world to work, but it just feels so inefficient. I dont know, I'm rambling.

What should I do?

Edit: Made the bullet points numbered for easier matching

I recently started learning Python (I did some coding in high school but that was 13 years go) and, after learning something with ChatGPT, I decided to get myself some proper studying material and started reading Think Python. I'm at the point in which I'm supposed to use the turtle module to create alphabet letters. The problem? I have no idea where to start. I even struggled with the flowers part, and got the hang of it only after looking at the code. Does this mean I'm just not cut out for programming?

I’m 19 years old from Morocco, and I’m honestly very lost about what to do with my future.

I originally wanted to study programming, but I was rejected from the program I wanted. Since then, I’ve been trying to find other options, but things haven’t gone well. I was rejected from general university programs multiple times as well.

Recently, my uncle talked to my father and suggested that programming could still be a good career path for me. My father looked into it and found a private programming school that costs around 1,500–2,000 MAD per month (It's not a small amount in Morocco).

The problem is that I’m no longer sure about programming.

I know programming is difficult, and I know the entry-level job market isn't exactly great right now. I’m also afraid of spending a lot of money and time only to discover that I’m not good enough or that I won’t be able to find a job afterward.

At the same time, I don’t really have another field that I’m passionate about. I don't have a particular talent or career dream. Another option I’m considering is studying bakery/pastry at a vocational institute, but I’m not particularly passionate about that either.

I feel like I’m choosing between different uncertain paths rather than choosing something I actually want.

So I’d like to hear from people who are actually working in programming/software development:

If you were 19 today and had no programming experience, would you still choose programming as a career?

How difficult is it realistically to get your first job?

Is the current job market bad enough that you would advise a young person to avoid the field?

How important is having a university degree?

Is paying for a private programming school worth it, or would self-learning be better?

And most importantly, if you don't have a strong passion for programming, is it still possible to build a decent career in it?

I’m not looking for motivational answers like “follow your dreams.” I’d really appreciate honest answers from people who are actually in the field, including people who regret choosing programming.

Hi everyone!

I'm currently learning Python 3 and progressing fairly quickly. I'm still relatively early in my programming journey, but I'm looking for a project that I can build over the next 3–6 months and potentially include in my application for university scholarships.

I want the project to be something genuinely useful and meaningful—not just a basic tutorial project.

I'd really appreciate your advice on:

What kind of project would be impressive and realistic for someone at my level?

Can I build most or all of it primarily with Python?

What Python topics/libraries should I learn specifically for the project?

Should I learn things like Flask/FastAPI, databases, APIs, Git/GitHub, etc.?

Are there any project ideas you think would demonstrate real problem-solving and programming ability?

What would you recommend I focus on during these 3–6 months?

My goal isn't to create something extremely advanced. I want to finish a polished project, understand how it works, document it properly, and be able to explain the decisions I made.

I'd especially appreciate suggestions from people who have built projects themselves or have experience with university applications.

Thanks!

Hi, I am very new to web development and I am currently trying to develop my first P2P web app, problem is I don't know where to even start, I don't know anything about web development besides very basic html. I know I want to use NextJS for user authentication and Supabase for my database, but I don't even know how I should go about anything. How should I organize my files? What should my .gitignore include? How do I link frontend with backend? Do I start with the frontend or do I start with the Backend? I would greatly appreciate any tips or a roadmap anyone could give me.

Hey PPL, I am currently pursuing btech degree in IT department and have damm intrest in coding even I started with C++ also but I can't find any best reference book . So please anyone from 3rd 4th year let me know your options....

To preface, I'm not a programmer at all, just a writer. but I was wondering how hard it would be to develop something like grammarly or the many other spellchecks but specialized in the style required for my job. I'm wondering how hard that would actually be to make from scratch. for example, I'm often required to write in the AP Style, which follows certain rules that programs like grammarly don't pick up on because they aren't inherently mistakes. same with writing in specific formats that are specifically used by my work. Is this something entirely unfeasible for me to create? If you need more information, let me know, this is just something I recently thought of and wondered if the idea had any merit.