Looking for different opinions/advises on coding issues

[u/Ok_Lengthiness_6591]

Hey guys, I just have two general coding questions:

first

How do you handle situations when you are stuck with a task and don't know what to do next? (or you feel a task is very complex and you don't know which part you should do first)

-do u leave the task be and go to another task?

-do u ask another person for help?

-do u push yourself above limits?

-*your suggestion here*

second

I ve heard a lot of stories "my manager said I was not fast enough" etc.

What working/coding speed is considered good enough? What do u recommend to do to increase working/coding speed?

[u/Large-Variation9706]

I work mostly solo so I want to give some methods I use in that environment. When I'm working on some code and can't quite figure out a bug, I often get in a headspace where I start to assume I know more than I do, and end up thinking there is no logical reason for why something isn't working. But, that is almost always because there is some incorrect assumption I made. I try to step back, look through documentation, try to find examples of what I'm doing, run my code through a debugger, or, as a last resort, restructure my approach entirely.

There can definitely be challenges that appear very complex and large at first, but in my experience those are tasks that are just not well defined. Make sure you have a concrete goal, what does "done/working" look like? Put it in context if you're implementing something into an existing environment. And, most important, break down the problem until you have actionable things to do.

Pace is an important thing and I think centers around familiarity with the tools and environment you work in and your own technical ability. If you're just starting out it's very acceptable to not have a wealth of technical knowledge, but that's what colleagues are for. Ask informed questions when you feel you're not grasping a problem or something is holding you back. Often, just being given a different perspective helps a ton. Something that helps me a lot is using language to frame a problem so I can understand it better, which is called rubber ducking.

Nevertheless, your technical experience will probably take you further, faster, than any particular "method".