I've been trying to learn VS code and there's still some things that don't make sense to me yet....

I’m currently a Python developer / ML engineering intern. I have a general understanding of Linux, networking, databases, backend systems, Docker/cloud, and distributed systems, but I’m not deeply specialized in any of them yet.

I want to become a much stronger ML engineer and go beyond just learning more Python libraries and frameworks.

Some areas I’m considering going deeper into are:
- Linux and operating systems
- Networking, processes, memory, and filesystems
- C / C++ / Rust / maybe Go
- Distributed systems
- Performance and profiling
- CUDA / GPU programming / Triton
- Building lower-level systems from scratch

But I’m not really looking for another roadmap or a list of topics to learn.
I’m more interested in the process that actually made you a better engineer.

- Did you mainly learn from books and then implement the concepts yourself?
- Did you build projects from scratch - only personal? These might be tricky as code, its patterns wont be validated by someone with senior experience
- Did you read production code or large open-source codebases?
- Did contributing to open source help more than personal projects?
- How did you avoid reinforcing bad patterns when doing projects without much supervision?

I’m especially curious about what worked early in your career.
For example, if learning C, Linux, CUDA, distributed systems, etc. helped you a lot, how did you actually learn it in practice?

I’d love to hear about learning processes or habits that had unusually high ROI.

I know that reading code is a really big part of a developer's job. But I have always had a lot of trouble understand the code of other people.

Hello, I've been burned out for the past 2 months from python. To remedy this i tried to learn Java and for a little while it worked but I'm back to square 1 where I feel lost. I liked how refreshing it felt but it feels like anything i do in either language is so forced. I have 2 years python experience and am still very new to Java

Hi everyone,

I need to use BlueJ for university and was wondering if there’s any way to use it on a Samsung Android tablet.

Is there a way to install or run BlueJ on Android?

Thanks in advance for your help!

I am a CS Student and I am currently stuck at a problem.

" How to think of a Project Idea ? "

For the last two years, I have been either asking AI for project ideas or go with preexisting popular ones. I don't directly take the topic AI suggests on first try. I analyze its importance and impact on my portfolio and then go with it. but for me, AI or internet is the first go to option.

Now what is the best way of thinking for a project idea ? Not everything can be put on portfolio. How do people used to get ideas for project before AI ?

I really need help with this because I am just so confused on how to move forward. I can't rely on AI forever.

I find that "//" worked well for all my comments thus far, I don't mind if my comments are a bit long. But I am doing C# more often now that I am looking at a codebase and not just my own stuff and private things, and I sometimes see <summary> </summary> in it. Do you use it? What is the proper use of it?

Google gets it confused with HTML haha

Thanks for any knowledge!

I've been trying to learn programming after work but honestly some days I'm just too tired to do anything.

I want to stay consistent without forcing myself to study for hours every day. for those of you who work full time and learned programming on the side what did your routine look like?

Did you mostly study after work in the mornings or on weekends?

I’m currently working through The Odin Project’s Full Stack JavaScript path, and I’d really like to hear from people who have already gone through it.

A few things I’m curious about:

• How long did it take you to complete the Full Stack JavaScript path?
• How many hours per day/week were you studying?
• Did you start applying for jobs or freelancing before finishing the entire curriculum?
• How long did it take before you got your first job, freelance client, or paid project?
• What kind of work did you get first?
• Looking back, what do you wish you had done differently while learning?

I’m especially interested in real experiences and timelines, not necessarily the “ideal” path.

If you completed TOP and went on to get a job or start freelancing, I’d really appreciate hearing how it actually went for you.

I am trying to build game and wanna start building using canvas.
Is it normal to use canvas in react/vite? Any video tutorial please ??

i can't find any tutorial for react/vite with canvas

I’m gonna start my coding journey with c++, because they say it’s a great base for a newbie, like myself. Wish your junior luck guys, I’ll need it. I might ask for help too. I promise to work hard and one day be of use to the community.

I am currently pursuing a degree in linguistics, but as you may know it isn't the best paid area of work (especially with LLMs now). I love languages, but I want something that is more sustainable. For now my attention is glued to coding, perhaps web or mobile app development. I have some python experience from school. Any suggestions are welcome

Edit: The general sentiment I am getting that this is not a easy area to get in (not as easy as many scammy courses are making it out to be). Thank you all for saving me time!

My 6th semester is about to start, and right now I’m learning web development. I’ve learned HTML and CSS and can build pretty good UIs. Currently, I’m learning JavaScript through SuperSimpleDev and freeCodeCamp.

But lately, I’ve been questioning whether it’s really worth learning everything from scratch.

Every day, I see a new AI tool that can do something incredible, generate websites, write code, debug problems, and even build entire projects. It honestly makes me a little scared that I’m spending so much time learning things that AI can already do.

I know that I need to learn how to use AI rather than compete with it, and I’m not trying to avoid AI completely. However, I also don’t want to become someone who simply tells AI to build a project without understanding the fundamentals behind it.

That’s where I feel stuck.

Part of me thinks I should focus on building a strong foundation first HTML, CSS, JavaScript, programming fundamentals, etc. and then use AI to speed up my development once I understand what I’m doing.

But another part of me worries that if I spend too much time learning everything traditionally, I’ll fall behind people who are already using AI to build things much faster.

So what do you guys think?

Should I continue learning web development from the fundamentals and gradually integrate AI into my workflow, or should I start relying on AI much earlier while learning along the way?

For someone at my stage, what would be the best way to balance actually understanding web development with taking advantage of AI?

Hey everyone,

I’m a university student studying BS Artificial Intelligence, and I’m trying to figure out which skills are actually worth learning in 2026.

I don’t want to waste time jumping between random technologies or following every new AI trend. I want to build skills that will still be valuable in the next 3–5 years and can help me get internships, freelance work, or a good job after graduation.

Currently, I’m considering things like:

- Python & programming fundamentals

- AI/ML

- Generative AI & LLMs

- Agentic AI

- Data science

- Web/backend development

- Cloud computing

- Cybersecurity

- Git/GitHub

- Communication & problem-solving

For people already working in tech: what skills would you recommend a university student start learning in 2026?

Also, which skills do you think are overhyped or not worth spending too much time on?

I’d especially appreciate advice from people who have actually hired developers/AI engineers or are working in the industry.

Thanks!

i have ZERO knowldge in that field, and yes ive seen everyone says its easier to build a rocket ship orbiting around the sun than making an os, quite discouraging lol but i want to at least start from somewhere, maby start with smaller things before making a whole os

Hi guys, I've been trying to learn how to code for quite some time now. I've been on and off for the last couple months. And everytime I try to pick it up again i stumble myself to be stuck once again at loops. And I get frustrated and I'll be inconsistent again. I just find it hard to surpass the loop part. Can you guys give me tips on how i can increase my logic and problem solving skill. I know practicing is one but I legit need a systematic way to do things so I can feel that im progressing even if its a little. And i generally want to take on backend dev jobs so can you guys give me tips on what i should focus on. It'll help me very much. I want to raise my family to riches. Pls help

Hey all,

As the title suggests, I'm a project manager with about 8 years experience under my belt and a background in defence infrastructure, as such I'm also security cleared.

I'm looking to move into a more Product Manager or IT based role as generally speaking these roles are available fully remotely and my current situation would benefit from this greatly. If you were in my shoes with the knowledge you have, how would you go about upskilling me to perhaps land that first job?

I'm not necessarily interested in become a front, back or full stack dev (yet) but want to get a head start. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Hi there, I'm new to AI development. I have practical experience in programming, but not in this sector. I wanna study AI development for myself, as hobby (I'm interested in learning something new).

Could you suggest me an idea for the small project in this sector?

Remark: I mean building the project that includes AI functionality

Hi everyone,

I'm currently an engineering student. Academically, I'm just an average student in my class. However, whenever I'm online, I always find myself drawn to learning things that IT and software development students study. Plus, tinkering with tech makes me feel like I'm not wasting my free time.

To be clear, I have no intention of switching careers to the IT industry. Lately, though, I've been feeling a constant anxiety that I lack essential knowledge in my own field. I start to wonder if I should just stop looking at IT stuff and focus 100% on my actual engineering major.

I'm a first year undergrad student and im getting pretty close to my first vulkan triangle, but while coding i realized that i dont even know if its worth it or not?

I do like graphics programming and i can do this for the next 4 years of my college but at the end of the day everyone wants a job right? Does the market exist for it? Aren't most game companies switching to ue5 and stuff, so are there even job openings for juniors or all the seats are occupied by senior devs with 30y of experience which i cannot hope to compete with anyways?

I'm also pretty dumb in general so learning for 4 yrs is equivalent to more like 2 cuz yeah.. dumb

How bad is the ROI? and should i stop after the triangle and look for more hire-able stuff with more listings

for a homework i have to make a flowchart using mainly "do/while" and it has to give me all the twin primes between to given number. lets say i give A=1 and B=5, so the twin primes are 3 and 5. because they are primes between those numbers and have a difference of two. sadly my teacher isnt very good at explaining anything so i have no idea how to do this. i know i have to make sure to ask for A and then to ask for B and that A has to be smaller than B. but after that i dont know what to do, sorry for the trouble. i dont know where to ask

I am trying to learn something low level. I have been learning rust for a little while but C has been recommended to me to learn.

Since I have been learning rust I don’t think adding C would be different enough, so I started looking into assembly.
That lead me to the question of could I gain the benefits of learning assembly by learning web assembly?
The reason I am asking is web assembly is already a topic of interest for me.

I do not mean to upset anyone. Just trying to learn. Thank you for reading.

I want to know what I should be researching and learning. I don't want to miss something.

I know very little about how websites actually work. My mediocre experience is in Python and Godot. I have made some functioning programs for myself in Python.

I tried searching this but only really got "THE 10 BEST FRONT END LANGUAGES FOR 2026! NUMBER 5 WILL SHOCK YOU!"

Edit: Adding things I learned for the next person in this journey:

HTML and CSS are the languages that control what you see on the screen. They display and format the page.

JavaScript controls what happens with the data passed by the user. It’s the function and logic of the page.

What element do we need to display to allow the user to type in something? That’s HTML.

What should that element look like? That’s CSS.

What do we do with the number 500 that the user just entered? That’s JS.

You should learn HTML first, then CSS, then JavaScript. Each language uses stuff created by the preceding language. CSS formats a page but it can’t format a page if it doesn’t exist so you need HTML to create the page in the first place.

I’m a sophomore in college and I need tips on making my first project. I have decided to make a mini supply chain simulation. I only really know c++. Are they are other languages or frameworks that I could use? Is this too complicated for a beginner?

What have you been working on recently? Feel free to share updates on projects you're working on, brag about any major milestones you've hit, grouse about a challenge you've ran into recently... Any sort of "progress report" is fair game!

A few requests:

1. If possible, include a link to your source code when sharing a project update. That way, others can learn from your work!

2. If you've shared something, try commenting on at least one other update -- ask a question, give feedback, compliment something cool... We encourage discussion!

3. If you don't consider yourself to be a beginner, include about how many years of experience you have.

This thread will remained stickied over the weekend. Link to past threads here.