Rant: My mechanic friend said my code looked like a car with no oil

He saw me trying to learn Python last week and pointed out I was just copying tutorials without understanding the logic. It made me realize I need to focus on the 'why' behind the syntax, not just the 'what'. How do you actually learn to think like a programmer?

3 comments

3 Comments

wade5581mo ago

Yeah, my first few scripts looked like a car with no oil, no wheels, and the engine on fire. Try building something dumb that you actually want, it forces you to figure out the 'why'.

alex_coleman22d ago

I mean, "fighting through it" sounds kinda dramatic for renaming some photos, doesn't it? Like, it's not that serious. I get that hitting a wall with a loop is annoying but idk, it just feels like people overhype how hard this stuff actually is. My first script was basically me copying stuff from Stack Overflow and hoping it worked, and honestly that was fine. Maybe it's just me but I don't think you need to treat learning code like some epic battle where you're forging your skills in fire. A lot of times you just need to Google the error, fix it, and move on without all the dramatic talk.

price.alice1mo ago

Totally agree with building something dumb, that's how it clicked for me. Pick a tiny, pointless project, like a script that renames all your photos with the date, and just fight through it. You'll hit a wall, Google why your loop breaks, and that fix sticks way better than any tutorial. The struggle to make your own dumb idea work teaches you the 'why' faster than anything else.