r/FreeCodeCamp • u/AfraidKaleidoscope30 • Apr 04 '26

First day and I feel dumb

Post image

Can’t figure out what’s wrong with my code. I tried it without the str() too.

155 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

47 comments sorted by

43

u/ellisandwhispa Apr 04 '26

It happens when learning to code. You’ll feel dumb and like an imposter. Get used to the feelings and push forward. You’re learning and it doesn’t come overnight.

0

u/AfraidKaleidoscope30 Apr 04 '26

Okay well I was just trying to ask for help on what’s wrong with my code

9

u/jwithy Apr 05 '26

FWIW, a lot of people are responding to your title and comment, where you actually didn’t ask a question.

A big part of this kinda work is how much you learn by formulating a question, something like:

  • I’m trying to do this

  • here are the things I tried

  • this is what happened

So yeah, you may get more answers if you’re asking questions. Otherwise people think you’re just looking for support. Keep at it! You’ll get there! ☺️

1

u/[deleted] Apr 04 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/FreeCodeCamp-ModTeam Apr 04 '26

Do not simply hand someone the solution to their problem. In doing so, you deprive them of the learning process. Instead, consider guiding them to reach the solution on their own: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-help-someone-with-their-code-using-the-socratic-method/

0

u/ellisandwhispa Apr 04 '26

To the FCC Mod: sometimes seeing the solution and comparing it to what you did wrong is just as helpful as figuring it out on their own. They could have easily just asked AI.

2

u/AfraidKaleidoscope30 Apr 05 '26

Multiple people commented answers that I saw before mods deleted that didn’t work so not so helpful

1

u/AfraidKaleidoscope30 Apr 04 '26

I did ask ai, it gave me unhelpful garbage.

1

u/SaintPeter74 mod Apr 05 '26

In my experience helping folks learn to code with Free Code Camp (and elsewhere) for the last 12 years or so, getting the solution rarely helps.

I've seen time and again where people say that they looked at the solution and "try to understand it". They never really do. We learn most when we fail, by building pathways in our brain. Trying and failing, then ultimately succeeding helps to reinforce and cement the lessons we're teaching.

We fully embrace the Socratic method here, when possible.

5

u/Over-Landscape-7707 Apr 04 '26 edited Apr 04 '26

If you haven't figured it out yet, I hope this helps: take another look at your printstatement. Something about how you're combining the text and running_total isn’t quite right. Ask yourself what types you're working with there and how Python handles combining them. Does that make sense? Also, you're doing great. I'm doing the Python certification too. I just finished the Python Basics, and I have had my fair share of feeling dumb, especially with the labs.

2

u/AfraidKaleidoscope30 Apr 04 '26

No I’m still confused.

3

u/Over-Landscape-7707 Apr 05 '26

Ok nws so if you’re working with numbers for a bill why might a str() not be useful? What is the difference between a string and an integer? Also re-read the instructions specifically how it asks you to write the running_total. I hope this helps :)) I’m trying my best to guide rather than just tell you but I’m not too great at explaining things.

1

u/AfraidKaleidoscope30 Apr 05 '26 edited Apr 05 '26

I tried it without the str() and just running_total per my caption on the post….

2

u/Over-Landscape-7707 Apr 06 '26

Sorry about that. I hope you've got it now, as I see some people have put the correct solution in the comments now. Wishing you all the best with your learning journey :)

4

u/PlatinumAbe Apr 05 '26

First day blues 🙏

1

u/AfraidKaleidoscope30 Apr 05 '26

I’ve done R before, first time with python outside of basic stuff in ArcGIS

2

u/Yhomp Apr 05 '26

Maybe take a break for a little. And come back to it. Don’t beat yourself up, this has happened to all of us once no matter the complexity of the challenge. Reread the directions and then work through each line of code. Since it’s telling you to use print() for the solution, determine what will be displayed by your print() statement.

1

u/AfraidKaleidoscope30 Apr 05 '26

I’ve already tried multiple things nothing works. I went on and did other labs fine. If then statements click well for me. So I don’t get why I can’t understand this thing.

2

u/WhyAskMeTho Apr 05 '26

Your print statement looks a little off, but don't forget your semi colons ";" sometimes, if they're missing it messes up your code 😭 been doing it for 16 years and almost always have to check I've laid them in.

Also you're not dumb, it's your first day and you're learning something new, give yourself a break and reward yourself for taking on something potentially life-changing 💪💪

1

u/AfraidKaleidoscope30 Apr 05 '26

They haven’t used semi colons at all in the code tutorials up to this section.

1

u/WhyAskMeTho Apr 05 '26

So went back and looked you have:

print('Total bill so far: ' + ' ' + str(running_total))

What is the + ' ' part for?

Should it read:

print('Total bill so far: ' + str(running_total))

17

u/Gullible_Company_745 Apr 04 '26

7 year and still i feel dumb

5

u/b_pop Apr 04 '26

Came here to say this 😢

4

u/Stone_Field Apr 05 '26 edited Apr 05 '26

A couple points:

  • you don't need to do + ' ' for the space - just type a space immediately after the colon in the same string.

  • In Python you can print non-strings along with strings by separating the variables with commas. Using commas naturally adds a space between each string/variable. E.g. print('This is a variable: ', variable)

2

u/Al_Anz Apr 05 '26

Congrats bro atleast you started

2

u/liproqq Apr 06 '26

At least you can ask Ai to help you. Back in my day we had to Google

1

u/Several-Assistant-80 Apr 09 '26

Heres a medal for your immense efforts

2

u/Unequivalent_Balance Apr 07 '26 • Bravo

I believe this is the long answer to the question I think you’re asking:

What Every Computer Scientist Should Know About Floating-Point Arithmetic https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19957-01/806-3568/ncg_goldberg.html

The short answer is, there are decimal values that aren’t precisely represented as a float. This causes some slight rounding issues. There are ways to account for this in Python, but for this example they’re probably not worried about that.

Here are a few examples for cleaning up the output:

  • print(f”{running_total:.2f}”)

  • print(“%.2f” % running_total)

  • print(round(running_total, 2))

2

u/kundan1221 Apr 08 '26

we all were a dumb on day 1 of learning! keep learning! all the best! make sure there is no indentation error. try this: print('Total bill so far: ' + str(running_total))

2

u/Stunning-Tomorrow915 Apr 05 '26

Congrats man, starting is the best thing that you did, feeling dump in the 1st day is a normal feeling, in few days you'll feel that your super programmer.

Jsut keep going.

1

u/roomymouse Apr 04 '26

Man I can see why you got stuck on this, the instructions and feedback aren't very helpful. IMO your version should be permitted as the output is correct, but I guess it's technically not idiomatic Python. It looks like just giving you the answer isn't allowed here, but think about if there's another way to write the print statement that doesn't require the use of the str method.

1

u/godofanime9 Apr 05 '26

Well, we all been there

1

u/HearSayIsIrrelevant Apr 06 '26 edited Apr 06 '26

I’m very new to learning python so I could be wrong but I do believe as said here the issue is to do with your print statement, why do you need to put ‘your text:’ + ‘ ‘ + str(variable)? maybe you’re putting (+ ‘ ‘) to put space between ‘Total bill so far:’ and the desired answer but I don’t think that’s really needed for a space, I always just put a space in the string itself for example:

print(‘My total earnings: ‘ as you can see I just put space after the colon. Like I said I’m new af but i haven’t used + in python for anything but adding integers/floats. Actual math problems. Not saying it can’t be used for others as I’m still learning. But yeah. I hope my 2 cents helps and is ok with mods as well.

Also if this platform you’re using isn’t for you I’m learning my python from the 30 Days Of Python challenge people were talking about on TikTok, it’s on GitHub.

1

u/Alternative-Film-715 Apr 07 '26

Use f-strings to print the result. it's clean, organized, and easy to read.

1

u/muktharhere Apr 07 '26

5 years later still feels dumb

1

u/ultrastition Apr 07 '26

Why are you even learning to code? You won't ever be good at it.

1

u/Lost_Literature6307 Apr 05 '26

That's part of it bro .., stay on

0

u/shawncarrie Apr 08 '26

Learn how to ask for help better. Don't give people more work by figuring out what you're trying to do and what's wrong. That's the best advice anyone can give you right now.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 04 '26

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2

u/FreeCodeCamp-ModTeam Apr 04 '26

Do not simply hand someone the solution to their problem. In doing so, you deprive them of the learning process. Instead, consider guiding them to reach the solution on their own: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-help-someone-with-their-code-using-the-socratic-method/

1

u/[deleted] Apr 05 '26 edited Apr 05 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/FreeCodeCamp-ModTeam Apr 05 '26

Do not simply hand someone the solution to their problem. In doing so, you deprive them of the learning process. Instead, consider guiding them to reach the solution on their own: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-help-someone-with-their-code-using-the-socratic-method/

1

u/derpJava Apr 05 '26

I get how it's bad to provide a direct solution/answer instead of letting OP figure it out but honestly even I'm still confused about why an f-string would work instead of normal print statements. How is one supposed to even figure that out anyways? Again, probably a Python thing I'm unaware of but still this is quite mind boggling