For some reason, I see a lot of beginners post something like this online: "I've been programming for a month now and it's still difficult. Is programming right for me?"
Newsflash: Programming is hard. Learning to program is hard. In fact, any skill is hard.
Let's take our statement from earlier and replace it with an instrument. Let's read it out together: "I've been [playing] the violin for a month now and it's still difficult. Is [playing] the violin right for me?"
To be frank, the statement now sounds kind of ridiculous. Unless you're a prodigy, of course the violin is still difficult, it's an instrument that requires years of practice.
Programming is no different. It's a skill. If you want to be good at programming, it requires years of hard work.
I think the reason why beginner programmers feel "stuck" is because the progress they make isn't immediately obvious. Let's go back to our violin example: our beginner violinist would have no difficulty in knowing what a good violinist sounds like, and there's a clear benchmark they can compare themselves to. It's not too difficult to hear when a violinist messes up a note, rushes a piece, or has a scratchy tone.
However, our beginner programmer has no clear benchmark. It's part of the reason why companies have a difficult time creating a good interview process: there's no clear, easy way to distinguish the quality between two programmers. To do so, you'd have to take a deep dive into their projects, methods, ability to break down problems, etc. Even then, it's still not easy, and there's a lot of nuances to consider.
That's not to say I don't empathize; every programmer has been there before. Every programmer has stared at a screen for hours and felt like they were deciphering a set of ancient texts. Every programmer has felt frustrated out of their mind, only to solve the problem days later. We've all been there, and it's okay to feel frustrated.
Yes, programming is hard, but it's not impossible. Stick with it, and good luck.
There's a wonderful article by Peter Norvig about how to teach yourself programming in ten years.
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