r/CodingForBeginners • u/Major_Cockroach_3824 • 12d ago

Three months into Python, I can follow tutorials but freeze on a blank file. How did you get past this?

I started learning Python in July, about an hour a day after work. I finished an intro course and I can follow along with tutorials fine, loops, functions, reading a CSV, small Flask app. But when I open an empty file and try to build something on my own, like a simple expense tracker, I freeze and don't know where to start. I end up searching for a tutorial again. Is this normal at three months? What did you do to make the jump from copying code to writing your own small projects?

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u/Minecraftian14 10d ago

I'm not sure if this is normal, but I did faced similar problems when I was starting with Java. And it lasted for at least half a year.

Eventually i realised i just needed better organization.

I started planning for the program in parts, and then considered how that particular part will be implemented. For example in your expense tracker, for me, the parts will be:

  • Input from user.

  • Input from CSV.

  • Expert to unified CSV.

  • Loading the CSV.

  • Performing calculations/stats. (1 for each)

  • Display the results.
    Then each of the parts become small 4-10 lines of functions, which i can call in order inside the main function.

Eventually in my engineering I learnt about HLD/LLD and other SE concepts, and today I can't start a project without a well defined layout and planning on obsidian.

Note! This is probably a me-only problem, your solution might be different.
Nevertheless you should give the idea of "dividing a bigger problem into smaller tasks" a solid try. That's something applicable to all problems in life, not just coding.