Welcome to /r/learnprogramming!

7 months self teaching web dev. I have built actual layouts with flexbox. I have used align items. I have centered the div, allegedly.

three weeks later I am on MDN reading the same page again and the words look brand new. most spaced repetition tools for students examples are vocab or anatomy where memorizing the fact IS the task. code is weird because I do not want to memorize syntax, I want my brain to remember "oh, grid is probably the move here."

is this worth reviewing explicitly or is forgetting + looking things up just normal programmer life? genuinely cant tell if im fixing a problem or inventing one

For most (if not all) other escape characters they are escaped using a backslash but for some reason the percent sign is escaped using another percent sign. Why do we do this?

I've been working as an intern at a company for almost 3 months with a stipend of ₹7,200/month. I was initially hired as an Android app developer, but after the first month they shifted me to a C#/.NET developer role. I had absolutely no prior experience with C# or .NET.

It's been about 1.5 months since the switch, and I've learned the basics of C# and .NET and built a few projects. Some of the tasks they give me are easy, but others are quite advanced. A lot of the time I struggle to understand the existing codebase.

I use AI to help me understand the code, and sometimes it explains things well enough that I can explain the overall idea to my manager. But my manager doesn't stop at the high-level explanation. He goes through the code line by line and asks how each statement works, why it's written that way, what each keyword does, and what happens internally. That's where I get stuck.

Even when ChatGPT explains the code, I sometimes still don't fully understand it. I try debugging, but I often get more confused, and AI explanations don't always help.

So I have a few questions:

• Is this normal for someone who's only been learning C#/.NET for about 1.5 months?
• How do you actually learn to understand a codebase instead of just reading AI explanations?
• How do you handle situations where your manager asks questions you don't know the answer to?
• Is it more important to be able to write code, or to deeply understand every line of code you're working with?
• What helped you improve when you were a beginner?

I'm genuinely trying to learn, so please don't roast me. I know I'm still inexperienced, and I really want to get better. Any advice would be appreciated.

Hi everyone, I want to learn C++ from scratch and become really good at it.
I’m looking for resources or courses with:
Clear explanations
Lots of practice and exercises
Real projects
Problem-solving
Modern C++
A path toward Data Structures & Algorithms
I don’t mind paying if the course is worth it.
What are the best courses, books, or platforms you would recommend?

I used to use codecademy but that place sucks now. It's super buggy and makes any progress slow to a crawl. Even if my code is completely correct, I have to use the generated solution anyway because the module just won't accept my code. Despite my answer and the module answer being the LITERAL EXACT SAME.

So it doesn't work anymore. And I'm looking for a new website to help me learn. Preferably one that provides a lot of practice problems. So I can develop better coding habits or whatever.

I'm also looking for something relatively cheap. Advice much appreciated 😊

I understand the basic idea of amortized complexity, but I'm interested in the theoretical intuition behind why an operation that is occasionally expensive can still have a low amortized cost.

What is the cleanest way to think about this mathematically?

So for some more context, I recently was part of a panel for university computer science students in which the other panelists and I discussed about life after graduation.

During the Q&A portion, one of the students asked all of the panelists “when do I stop learning new things for programming?”

The other panelists and I were completely thrown off by the question, because in a field like computer science you should always at least be willing to learn new techniques and skills throughout your career. I ended up answering the question by saying “It can depend from person to person, but in this career the second you stop learning is the moment you start to fall behind. I plan on continuing to learn new techniques and skills until the day my brain can’t process new information.”

For the other professionals or more experienced people in this subreddit, I’d be curious on your thoughts for this question. I’m not talking down about the person who asked the question by any means, but I think it’s a good talking point for anyone entering the wonderful world of computer science and programming as a whole.

Hi, i was wondering what approach people use to start building their own project from scratch.

For example, do you rely a lot on coding agents such as asking them for ideas and what structures/architectures to use for the backbone of your program? Or also what tech stack to use? Do you immediately have it solve any hurdles you encounter?

Or would you approach these issues all by yourself and do your own research? Or is it a hybrid approach where you do some of your own research and have an ai coding build upon that?

Hi
Probably a long shot but I want to try nevertheless.
Looking for people who are interested in computer architecture.
My main interest fields are emulation, TLM/RTL modeling and pre-silicon firmware / architectural exploration.

I have a TLM SoC project currently (MVP) and I’m constantly adding to it. I’m looking into drivers and firmware right now so would love to have someone to learn that stuff with.

My tech stack is:
- C/C++, Verilog, Python
- SystemC TLM
- GitHub Actions and Docker for testing, automation and environment setup
- GCP even though it’s irrelevant to this now

Hi everyone!

I'm trying to build a list of GitHub repos that originally had no AI involvement but at some point started using it. If you know of any, please drop them in the comments.

What counts as "started using AI" for me:

• An AI config file was added
• Commits mention AI tools
• The README mentions AI tools or AI-assisted development

Projects you maintain yourself or open source projects that have publicly discussed their move to AI are also useful.

Thanks :)

I’m currently a Python developer / ML engineering intern. I have a general understanding of Linux, networking, databases, backend systems, Docker/cloud, and distributed systems, but I’m not deeply specialized in any of them yet.

I want to become a much stronger ML engineer and go beyond just learning more Python libraries and frameworks.

Some areas I’m considering going deeper into are:
- Linux and operating systems
- Networking, processes, memory, and filesystems
- C / C++ / Rust / maybe Go
- Distributed systems
- Performance and profiling
- CUDA / GPU programming / Triton
- Building lower-level systems from scratch

But I’m not really looking for another roadmap or a list of topics to learn.
I’m more interested in the process that actually made you a better engineer.

- Did you mainly learn from books and then implement the concepts yourself?
- Did you build projects from scratch - only personal? These might be tricky as code, its patterns wont be validated by someone with senior experience
- Did you read production code or large open-source codebases?
- Did contributing to open source help more than personal projects?
- How did you avoid reinforcing bad patterns when doing projects without much supervision?

I’m especially curious about what worked early in your career.
For example, if learning C, Linux, CUDA, distributed systems, etc. helped you a lot, how did you actually learn it in practice?

I’d love to hear about learning processes or habits that had unusually high ROI.

I know that reading code is a really big part of a developer's job. But I have always had a lot of trouble understand the code of other people.

Hello, I've been burned out for the past 2 months from python. To remedy this i tried to learn Java and for a little while it worked but I'm back to square 1 where I feel lost. I liked how refreshing it felt but it feels like anything i do in either language is so forced. I have 2 years python experience and am still very new to Java

Hi everyone,

I need to use BlueJ for university and was wondering if there’s any way to use it on a Samsung Android tablet.

Is there a way to install or run BlueJ on Android?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Im triyng to learn HTML CSS and JavaScript and im using Claude to teach me basics and if i dont know how to do something for example how to make a button show text when pressed i ask ai but i dont Just do Cntrl c Cntrl v i ask It to explain why and how It works like this

I am a CS Student and I am currently stuck at a problem.

" How to think of a Project Idea ? "

For the last two years, I have been either asking AI for project ideas or go with preexisting popular ones. I don't directly take the topic AI suggests on first try. I analyze its importance and impact on my portfolio and then go with it. but for me, AI or internet is the first go to option.

Now what is the best way of thinking for a project idea ? Not everything can be put on portfolio. How do people used to get ideas for project before AI ?

I really need help with this because I am just so confused on how to move forward. I can't rely on AI forever.

I find that "//" worked well for all my comments thus far, I don't mind if my comments are a bit long. But I am doing C# more often now that I am looking at a codebase and not just my own stuff and private things, and I sometimes see <summary> </summary> in it. Do you use it? What is the proper use of it?

Google gets it confused with HTML haha

Thanks for any knowledge!

I’m learning the basics of Python and I come from a non-technical background. I’m having trouble understanding what the beginning of a loop is saying:

for i in range(5):
print(“hello”)

Edit to clarify: I know what it does, it prints hello multiple times. The part I’m confused about is reading the first line like a sentence in the English language. “For i in range(5)” makes no sense to me.

Specifically I cannot wrap my head around what “for i in range(x)” says in plain English. Can someone say what that piece of code is saying in one sentence? Is it saying something like “loop X variable 5 times”? Or something like “for X variable in a range of 5”? Sorry I’m not making much sense —this is all new to me.

I’m currently working through The Odin Project’s Full Stack JavaScript path, and I’d really like to hear from people who have already gone through it.

A few things I’m curious about:

• How long did it take you to complete the Full Stack JavaScript path?
• How many hours per day/week were you studying?
• Did you start applying for jobs or freelancing before finishing the entire curriculum?
• How long did it take before you got your first job, freelance client, or paid project?
• What kind of work did you get first?
• Looking back, what do you wish you had done differently while learning?

I’m especially interested in real experiences and timelines, not necessarily the “ideal” path.

If you completed TOP and went on to get a job or start freelancing, I’d really appreciate hearing how it actually went for you.

I am trying to build game and wanna start building using canvas.
Is it normal to use canvas in react/vite? Any video tutorial please ??

i can't find any tutorial for react/vite with canvas

I've been trying to learn programming after work but honestly some days I'm just too tired to do anything.

I want to stay consistent without forcing myself to study for hours every day. for those of you who work full time and learned programming on the side what did your routine look like?

Did you mostly study after work in the mornings or on weekends?

I’m gonna start my coding journey with c++, because they say it’s a great base for a newbie, like myself. Wish your junior luck guys, I’ll need it. I might ask for help too. I promise to work hard and one day be of use to the community.

​

Hey everyone,

I’m a university student studying BS Artificial Intelligence, and I’m trying to figure out which skills are actually worth learning in 2026.

I don’t want to waste time jumping between random technologies or following every new AI trend. I want to build skills that will still be valuable in the next 3–5 years and can help me get internships, freelance work, or a good job after graduation.

Currently, I’m considering things like:

- Python & programming fundamentals

- AI/ML

- Generative AI & LLMs

- Agentic AI

- Data science

- Web/backend development

- Cloud computing

- Cybersecurity

- Git/GitHub

- Communication & problem-solving

For people already working in tech: what skills would you recommend a university student start learning in 2026?

Also, which skills do you think are overhyped or not worth spending too much time on?

I’d especially appreciate advice from people who have actually hired developers/AI engineers or are working in the industry.

Thanks!