It can be tough to navigate the world of coding, especially when you're a newbie. Figuring out where to start, dealing with imposter syndrome, and feeling overwhelmed by the amount of information out there. It’s...A LOT.
But you're not alone!
Let’s hear from those of you who are just starting out: what are your challenges? And for those of you who’ve made it (are making it): what tips can you share?
Latest comments (68)
I was wondering.... as I am furthering my education I am noticing that the industry is pushing for cloud enterprise solutions like Azure, AWS. I just hope that I am not spending to much time on learning specific platforms instead of the actual coding and database or cloud skills I need.
I am afraid of not being hired in the future because there is a lot of people learning programming
I don't have any coding background. I come from healthcare and struggling with JS though I have taken every possible course. I am not sure what to do and where to begin. I want to become a Full Stack Developer focusing on React.
I aM always wondering what levels of the syllabus I am at ? Whether I’m intermediate or still beginner. If I’m getting to the end of the tunnel if that is a light or just a torch. If I’m getting it all or I am missing out.
I always worry when I look at us code and I cannot decipher it or it is explained and it looks mathematical and complex.
Please I want a mentor that will help shape me and make me consistent
So far my biggest challenges so far were:
-Linking Libraries to my Visual Studio
-Using CMake (WIP)
-C++ in general (Its a love/hate relationship right now, but I wont give up on it)
-Reading documents and following instructions (Having adhd, it can be a bit overwhelming. All the command lines, programming Jargon, "Must-Have" libs and frameworks. I have no idea about any of it so it can be a bit hard to find the right tutorial suited for beginners.)
I've just learned to keep trucking. Program with what you know and only stop when you get stuck. Having a well defined goal is also invaluable rather than blind coding (which was my own problem aside from using too many brackets. Im a serial bracketer). My current goal is become efficient enough in C++ to where i can help others and contribute to open sources and my long term is to start a gaming company!
Anyways, cheers and good luck to all the upcoming computer prodigies!
I have the imposter syndrome, feel me like a know-it-all and at the same time an ignorant. :(
I dont know what to learn and how much to know to apply for job. And also where to find a job
yea exactly all of those problems,im in BE IT(same as BTech IT) 2nd year(almost ended,third will start from july maybe) and i still havent made any significant progress in any of the fields an aspiring developer should make(ie projects,leetcode/dsa,open-source etc etc) im still stuck in helloworld cause i get easily overwhelmed and distracted when trying to learn something new or important,any advice?
Try to do a side project, if there is something you don't know search the internet, but always try to learn or do new things
For me, the toughest part has been the networking. I'm self taught and I come from the symphonic music area. As a junior I feel confident with my technical skills, but I don't know too many people in the tech area. In the beginning, we always focus on the technical skills, but we shouldn't neglect the soft skills and the networking.
unlearning what I thought I knew , and new concepts like headless , server-less , making me restless lol
I am building my very first web application where I can track my workouts. However, I broke my code somehow. I have spent the last 4 day attempting to fix it to no avail. I even hired a tutor on code mentor to assist me and they could not fix the bug.
As a beginner self taught developer this is discouraging because I feel like I hit a brick wall. If I can't fix the problem and a hired tutor cant fix it then what can I do. I don't have a teacher or a real life mentor to call up for assistance in times like this and I don't have the money to keep paying for tutors and still be stuck.
My code is being stubborn and I'm being stubborn to find a solution but sometimes it feels like all hope is lost. What advice can you provide me when faced with a situation like this and where can a self taught developer go if they need experienced help in reviewing their code?
Junior backend here; even though i know there is not a "right roadmap" to become an employable developer, sometimes i fear that i am not choosing the right backend technologies to learn.
I mean, i've learnt SQL, Python and now im getting into Flask and git, but sometimes i doubt if I could be learning some other technologies first that are going to get me a job faster or if I am in the right path.
I will keep going tho, but is a fear that i feel sometimes.
Sorry for my english,
Love from Argentina.
For me personally, getting started and actually buckling down and doing some big projects is by far the hardest part. You can watch tutorials and do leetcode questions all day, but what people wanna see is a project portfolio.
As someone with little life experience, devising passion projects that would actually have some utility is hard as I don't know what problems firms are facing that I could solve.
I've taken to ChatGPT to give me ideas and find problems to try to solve using my programming skills.