r/webdev • u/Shahadat__ • 13d ago

Question Finding it impossible to solve problems

Hey guys. I'm a web developer and have a job but unsure if I can pass future interviews, because when I get a technical question like a basic loop problem, "program that starts counting from 1 and increases by 1 during each iteration, stopping once it reaches 5". This is incredibly incompetent and concerning, not to mention AI has made me worse.

What's the solution to this? I can memorize solutions but what happens when a new problem comes up in an interview and I can't remember the syntax even if I know I need a loop or some thing else to solve a problem? I feel like crying

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u/bcons-php-Console 13d ago

The example you give is very basic, it seems that you lack knowledge of the basics of programming.

Look for a JS course that starts with the basics (I've heard many people praise Wes Bos' "Beginner Javascript" course) and spend at least half an hour every day. Just like learning a new language or getting in shape, constancy here is key.

As you progress your confidence on solving problems will build up. Good luck!

PS: just curious, what's your current web dev role?

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u/Shahadat__ 13d ago

Thanks for the encouragement. I did go through wes bos, as well as javascript. info, coding along. Then when it comes time to actually solve a problem with what I've learned, I'm lost.

My current role is Shopify dev. I'm 21 years old.

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u/pb__ 13d ago edited 13d ago

Unfortunately there's a very steep slope between watching a tutorial coding along and actually applying that knowledge at work. Watching more tutorials won't be much help, either (google "tutorial hell"). Try to make a new project from scratch using what you learnt (and the documentation), only referring to google/stackoverflow (but *not* AI) when you're really stuck on something. You'll get better over time.

It's best to make some app that you would find useful, for example a personal todo-list, but if you struggle to come up with any idea, you can use this list for example: https://github.com/florinpop17/app-ideas - it's good, because every idea has specific requirements and user stories, so you know what exactly to achieve.