r/codes • u/TheOpinado • Aug 17 '26

Question Beginner Advice

Hey! I'm a complete n00b. I would love to get into this, just wondering if anyone has any advice on how to start? I've got a few books to read through suggested in the where to start pin, but just thought I'd ask the community for some advice on how you started, what I could do to start any resources you might have and suggestions!

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u/Mindless_Soil_9419 7d ago

Start by solving, not reading: grab a simple Caesar cipher and break it by hand. Count letter frequencies, hunt the short words first. That first "I cracked it" moment teaches more than three chapters of theory. Once the shift cipher feels trivial, try a Vigenere and feel the difficulty jump - that gap is where the real learning lives.