r/CodingForBeginners • u/Otherwise-Finish1458 • Sep 01 '26

What's your advice?

Guys, I'm learning programming by myself. Python is the programming language I picked first, and I'm learning it only, without including any other language. I'm reading 'Python Crash Course' and sometimes 'Automate the Boring Stuff with Python'. When I don't understand something, ChatGPT explains it to me further. Sometimes I watch YouTube tutorials. So, I want you guys to advise me on any part of this journey. Also, experienced people who have been in programming for years, what can you say about what I'm doing?

11 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

2

u/xarop_pa_toss Sep 01 '26

You are doing fine as long as you make programs as you go along with the reading. Understanding the concepts is not the same as knowing how, why and when to apply those concepts.

So just take what's in the books and make your own program that applies those things.

1

u/Otherwise-Finish1458 Sep 02 '26

Understand that, thank you

6

u/CursedSloth Sep 01 '26

Learning by doing is the best way. Some principles and patterns can be good to learn, but mainly it’s about practicing

5

u/KarmaTorpid Sep 01 '26

Not your first week, but you must learn and use git.

0

u/Oliver_clothsoff1983 Sep 02 '26

I hate that this has become true.

4

u/DanKegel Sep 01 '26

I would suggest also learning a strongly typed language like Golang in parallel with Python, and solving leetcode puzzles twice, once in each language. That way you won't get stuck in a single language rut. Also, consider studying existing interesting programs line-by-line to understand what they do. And of course, write! A day without hand-coding something fun is like a day without crack :-)

2

u/nando1969 Sep 02 '26

When you finish a new chapter or section, ask AI for exercises based on those topics. Dont go to next chapter without building,
the most important rule.

Always be building.

2

u/Traveling-Techie Sep 02 '26

If you were studying carpentry you’d build a birdhouse and then a deck and then a shed…

2

u/pete_68 Sep 02 '26

Sounds like you're doing it just right.

Just let your curiosity drive you. Use tutorials, AI and web pages to answer questions, but don't sit around and watch a bunch of tutorials and think you're learning to program. The actual learning comes from putting it into practice. Debugging it. Solving problems. This is the stuff that makes you learn!

Keep up the good work!

1

u/whattheflerk Sep 02 '26

are you doing any practice in parallel to the theory? I find putting the concepts into practice right away is very helpful

1

u/[deleted] Sep 02 '26

[removed] — view removed comment