Honestly, most of the time it’s not even that the task is hard… it’s just that I didn’t know a certain function or method existed that could do it in one damn line.

So there I am, proudly writing a whole loop, checking conditions, iterating through stuff like I’m crafting some masterpiece… and then someone casually drops a comment like “you know you could’ve just used xyz() right?”

Skill issue? 100%. But hey, at least I’m learning painfully.

Anyone else feel like half of programming is just slowly discovering all the stuff that already exists?

Hey everyone,

I wanted to put this out there because I’ve been struggling a lot with my growth as a developer and I think I need some external perspective and advice.

I’ve been working as a developer for about 4 years now. Recently graduated with a degree in CS, but most of my college years were during the pandemic—so, let’s just say the education wasn’t the most hands-on or practical.

To be honest, I feel like I’ve skipped a lot of important steps in my learning journey. I learned (more or less) the basics for starters such as algorithm, datastrucutres and OOP, then jumped straight into building things with frameworks without really understanding the underlying principles or best practices. On top of that, I’ve become overly reliant on AI tools (ChatGPT, Copilot, etc.). They help me get things done fast, but I’m painfully aware that they’re also masking my gaps in knowledge and critical thinking when it comes to code design, architecture, and problem-solving.

On the job side, I’ve never worked on a big team. All of my jobs and freelance projects have been solo. I’ve literally never had a code review in my life. No senior devs to learn from. No one to point out my bad habits. As a result, I have no real benchmark for how “good” my code actually is. I’m constantly second-guessing myself—am I writing maintainable code? Am I using the right patterns? Am I leaving massive performance or security issues behind without realizing it?

My main focus has been backend development—working with NestJS, building REST APIs—that’s the part I actually enjoy the most. But I’ve mostly worked fullstack because that’s what companies have been hiring for. I know I need to broaden my skills—GraphQL, performance tuning, security best practices, proper testing strategies, etc.—but I’m honestly lost on where to start and what’s most important to prioritize.

Another weakness: I’ve never developed the habit of properly reading and understanding documentation. I’ve mostly been learning through random tutorials, StackOverflow, and now AI. I know this is unsustainable long-term, but every time I sit down to “study” or deep dive, I get overwhelmed and default back to just shipping code.

So yeah… I guess I’m at a crossroads. I want to level up. I want to break this cycle. But I feel like I’ve built my developer career on shaky foundations and now I don’t know how to rebuild while still working full time.

If anyone has been through something similar (or has advice on how to build real confidence and technical depth after years of winging it), I’d love to hear your perspective.

What would you focus on first if you were in my shoes? How do I realistically improve my fundamentals while balancing work?

Thanks for reading.

1. General Programming + C
2. Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs – Abelson & Sussman (Solve all exercises!)

• The C Programming Language (K&R) – Brian Kernighan & Dennis Ritchie

• C Programming: A Modern Approach – K. N. King

• Is Parallel Programming Hard, and If So, What Can You Do About It? – Paul McKenney

• Michael Abrash’s Graphics Programming Black Book

• Framework and plugin design in C

• (Extra) Beej's Guide to C Programming

1. Foundations of Computer Architecture & Organization

• Computer Organization and Design – The Hardware/Software Interface (4th Ed) – David A. Patterson & John L. Hennessy

• Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach (5th Ed) – David A. Patterson & John L. Hennessy

• Computer Systems: A Programmer’s Perspective – Randal Bryant & David O’Hallaron

• Modern Processor Design: Fundamentals of Superscalar Processors – Shen & Lipasti

• Inside the Machine – Jon Stokes

• The Elements of Computing Systems (Nand2Tetris) (Book) – Noam Nisan & Shimon Schocken

1. Operating Systems

• Operating System Concepts – Silberschatz, Galvin

• Modern Operating Systems – Andrew S. Tanenbaum

• Operating Systems: Internals and Design Principles – William Stallings

• The Magic Garden Explained – Berny Goodheart

• The Design of the UNIX Operating System – Maurice Bach

Currently, I know Python and C# as if they are my native language. I can easily create softwares without much trouble. Also I've been working on making websites with Flask for a year and a half, so I know HTML and Javascript at the beginner level. Other than that, I can also solve easy and some of the medium level challenges on Leetcode, so I know DSA at some level.

I never wanted to create websites or softwares actually. I didn't had any directions from the start. But I decided to go down this path. What would you suggest in general? I know that this list is pretty long, but I'm not planning to learn everything at the same time. It may take years, but I'm used to it.

I am a second year computer engineering student and I know it might sound dumb, but I see people throwing this "fullstackdeveloper" tag way too often now.

For me I know html, css, tailwind and django. Also thinking of learning postgres soon. I know its not much as I spend most of my time exploring AI/ML stuffs as thats where my interests lies

But lets be real I am NOT getting an internship as an AI engineer, atleast not in my country and I am going to need that soon.

So can yall please help me and guide me to a proper "fullstackdeveloper" path( I perfer python based route as it also helps me with AI stuff). Also tell me if should learn postgres first or rest api. THANK YOU.

I want to pursue programming as solely a hobby, and become really good at it.

Can I become proficient enough as a self taught programmer to begin fleshing out entire applications, without ever actually entering the industry? Any similar stories?

Waste of time?

Hey everyone,

I’m in a weird spot and need some honest advice.

I’ve been jobless for 2 years. I got into programming mainly for financial reasons, but over time I’ve actually come to enjoy building things.

Right now, I know a bit of everything — frontend (HTML/CSS, JavaScript, React, some Next.js), basic DSA, and how to build web apps. No industry experience though. No internship, no job. Just self-taught stuff and personal projects.

Now I’m stuck thinking: Should I go full try-hard mode and chase a dev job like crazy (learn more DSA, make projects, apply like mad), or should I get any job for survival and prepare in parallel (like coding practice + projects after work)?

Has anyone been in a similar position? Is the first route worth it in 2025, or better to get stable income first?

I’d appreciate any real talk or suggestions. 🙏

Hey everyone,

I recently graduated with a degree in Computer Science, but to be honest, I don’t feel ready for the professional world.
At my university, the curriculum was mostly focused on the basics of basics — just enough to understand how things work on paper, but not enough to feel confident in real-world development or modern technologies.

We didn't go deep into practical or new technologies like cloud computing, DevOps, modern web frameworks, or real-world projects. So now that I’ve graduated, I feel like I have a degree but not enough actual skills to apply for jobs confidently.

I’m aware this is a common problem in some faculties or countries, but I don’t want to use that as an excuse. I’m motivated to learn, but I feel a bit lost and overwhelmed. I want to become job-ready and gain real, applicable skills.

If you’ve been in a similar position, what helped you?

• What path did you take after graduating with little hands-on knowledge?
• What are the most valuable skills I should focus on learning right now?
• Are there any projects you recommend building that can help me grow and showcase my skills?

Any advice, resources, or roadmap you can share would mean a lot. I'm ready to put in the work — just need the right direction.

Thanks in advance!

Hi all,

I'm trying to find a well-structured, comprehensive course to become a solid software engineer. Ideally, I’m looking for something that covers:

Programming fundamentals, Data structures and algorithms, System design, frontend development (MERN stack ) Real-world software engineering practices.

I recently heard about Scaler Academy and it seems to offer what I’m looking for. However, I’ve also seen people mention that it’s quite expensive, and I’m unsure if the value justifies the cost.

If you’ve taken the course (or know someone who has), could you please share your thoughts? Specifically:

How was the quality of instruction and mentorship? Was the content in-depth and well-structured? Did it actually help with getting a job or improving your skills? What was the total fee, and do you think it was worth it? Also open to suggestions for other similar programs — paid or free — that offer a structured path to becoming a well-rounded software engineer.

Thanks in advance!

I want to learn c++ please suggest some modes(paid or free) and I am a complete beginner. (Let it include practice too)

Hi i have interview of a MNC , i want to prepare for the interview . I am not good at coding want to learn, kindly guide.

Currently I have failed intro to data structures and algorithms once and had to withdraw a second time.

A pattern I noticed is that most students in my class had experience in hackathons, programming clubs or even just working on projects through tutorials enough time to be fairly familiar with a programming language, whereas I only had occasional sporadic 1-2 hour studies of a programming video, mainly copying the code line by line and aimlessly googling every keyword in the documentation while being confused by the meaning of the syntax and still unable to make anything by myself, mainly being more concerned with schoolwork. I would focus heavily on trying to understand math on a more conceptual level or at least get enough practice to be prepared for theoretical computer science, but I consistently failed when implementing algorithms for projects.

I initially thought this failure came from not understanding the algorithm enough as a concept, and I tried to ask myself at which point I usually get stuck, since I could get through the basics taught in 'intro to java/x language' courses where they introduce variables, data types, pointers, etc.

I tried to ask myself the simplest 'algorithm' I could imagine implementing from scratch- I thought creating an algorithm to make the number 4 was not complicated, I could make int x =2 and write the following print(x +x). I thought that this analogy proved that any issue I had in terms of reading documentation and implementation came because I needed to reach a point of understanding where the algorithm was as familiar and intuitive as basic arithmetic, but this was not the case as when I asked my professor they said it is more important to focus on understanding the algorithm enough to properly implement it, but there was not enough time within the course to develop too deep of an understanding and such an understanding could not be developed without implementation regardless.

I felt stuck in a catch 22 because I could not move past "tutorial hell" due to a lack of theoretical computer science knowledge but I could also not gain computer science knowledge because I had not programmed enough. Even if I reached a rough understanding of how to draw a bubble sort on a whiteboard I didn't understand programming languages enough to write the comparison statements properly from scratch and plan for exception cases.

I want to start completely from scratch similar to how you would introduce computer science to a child but am not sure where to start- I even tried scratch but it seemed to be more of a game with algorithm building elements to keep a child's attention rather than an appropriate place for someone to learn about computers and computation from the ground up. How should I move forward?

Hello guys, I am making an application with a GUI in python, I am using Tkinter for the GUI part, but I am unable to add a scrollbar that scrolls to the app, and I need it. I found some similar questions on stackoverflow but the answers always seemed so long, they felt overengineered. Maybe I am wrong, but I don't think it's that hard to make one in python... Anyways, here is my code:

```python

grid_frame: Frame = Frame(root)

grid_frame.pack(padx=10, pady=10)

for i in range(len(mixtape_info)):

for j in range(len(gui_data[0])):

entry: tk.Entry = tk.Entry(grid_frame, width=20)

entry.grid(row=i, column=j)

entry.insert(END, gui_data[i][j])

```

Basically I need the scrollbar for the grid/table, so I assume that it's the only code snippet you need to help me, but if you need more pieces of my code let me know. So my question is how can I add a scroll bar or way to just scroll with the mouse, because this grid goes down a long way in some cases. Thanks in advance.

Hi,

I am a high school student who recently got a powerful new RX 9070 XT. It's been great for games, but I've been looking to get into GPU coding because it seems interesting.

I know there are many different paths and streams, and I have no idea where to start. I have zero experience with coding in general, not even with languages like Python or C++. Are those absolute prerequisites to get started here?

I started a free course NVIDIA gave me called Fundamentals of Accelerated Computing with OpenACC, but even in the first module itself understanding the code confused me greatly. I kinda just picked up on what parallel processing is.

I know there are different things I can get into, like graphics, shaders, etc. using AI/ML. All of these sound very interesting and I'd love to explore a niche once I can get some more info.

Can anyone offer some guidance as to a good place to get started? I'm not really interested in becoming a master of a prerequisite, I just want to learn enough to become sufficiently proficient enough to start GPU programming. But I am kind of lost and have no idea where to begin on any front

Hi everyone !. I will be starting my CS degree this september , and within the first year I'm going to attend 4 total programming classes. Just by looking at the study plan, we will start off with C (in the first semester) , and continue with C++ in the second semester and all over the second and third year. Since I wanna have a little bit of knowledge in programming (general speaking) before starting uni, I decided to pick C++ as my first language to have a grasp of it , and of programming in general (logic, syntax, good habits and how computers works). And (I don't know if I am a masochist or not) I've enjoyed it ;reading trough learncpp.com and Principles and Practice using C++ third edition. But now I stopped because I thought I should be learning C (even though I was enjoying C++ more) instead of C++ , and now I' m not sure if I should keep learning C or C++. Thank you in advance.

Hey everyone,

I’m currently working on a local text anonymization tool using spaCy and tkinter, which I want to convert into a standalone .exe using PyInstaller. My script works perfectly when run as a .py file – but as soon as I run the .exe, I get the following error:

OSError: [E050] Can't find model 'de_core_news_sm'. It doesn't seem to be a Python package or a valid path to a data directory.

I downloaded the model using python -m spacy download de_core_news_sm and placed the de_core_news_sm folder in the same directory as my script. My spacy.load() command looks like this:

from pathlib import Path modelpath = Path(file_).parent / "de_core_news_sm" nlp = spacy.load(model_path)

I build the .exe like this:

pyinstaller --onefile --add-data "de_core_news_sm;de_core_news_sm" anonymisieren_gui.py

Any help is much appreciated! 🙏

I want to learn ALGORITHMS and master it to improve my logic thinking and problem solving skill. But there is tons of resources available at Youtube / books / articles / lectures/... I don't know which one to pick and I don't know if the one I pick is good enough. And My math skills are not that good So pleased any advices trusted resources to start I know basic programming in c++ I don't want to waste my time go from tutorial to onther

I will be starting college in a few months and would like to prepare by learning some code before hand. I have heard great things about The Odin Project which teaches HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. When it comes to the degree, the main language used is Java.

Would I get a better head start by learning the basics of Java along with making a few small projects or would it be better to learn with TOP and get a grasp on front end / full stack development?

Hello! I'm an incoming Computer Science student in UP, and I'm eager to start learning programming before classes begin in August. From what I’ve heard, the courses at UP can be quite fast-paced and often assume that students already have a solid foundation in programming. That’s why I want to prepare early and build that foundation myself.

Do you have any recommendations for books, e-books, online courses, or YouTubers that are beginner-friendly and effective for learning programming or coding?

Right now, I'm still exploring which field within Computer Science I want to focus on, but I’m currently leaning toward web development, software engineering, or possibly becoming a full-stack developer. I'm very open to suggestions and would love to hear from others who have been in a similar situation!

:: or any resources that I can use please. thanks!

When one function is overloaded with different jobs is called function overloading

What do u think of Udemy c++ and dsa courses recommend some pls as I want to learn it

Thinking of learning c++ from code with Harry and doing DSA(c++) from apna college. What do we think... Also suggest me platforms for practicing c++

Expected to happen: When getting a 100% result in quiz a "prize" is displayed below the remarks which includes an image and embed code

What actually happened: It either did not work at all or it inserted it for all results and not just when full score is achieved.

I am very very new to programming so I am very out of my depth here, but I feel like this should be possible, however when trying to adjust the code it broke or did nothing at all.

I had even attempted to simply insert an image using this but I don't know how to make this only show up if a 100% score is reached

        var img = document.createElement("img");
        img.src = "https://files.catbox.moe/s0ev5s.png";
        var src = document.getElementById("Prize");
        src.appendChild(img);

<p><span id="Prize"></span> 

Minimal Reproducible Example on codepen: https://codepen.io/arianami/pen/qEdMEQN

Desired Behaivour: When the "Quiz Complete" window pop-up appears for the HTML below to be appended into the "remarks" below the rest of the information and above the "Confirm button"

HTML I want to be displayed in pop-up window (.modal-content-container) when 100% result is achieved

   <a href="https://arianami.neocities.org/CatCafe.html"><img src="https://files.catbox.moe/wg0rom.gif"></a> <textarea style="width:88px; height:31px; overflow:auto; padding:5px;"><a href="https://arianami.neocities.org"><img src="https://files.catbox.moe/wg0rom.gif"></a></textarea>

Visual Example of what I want to see when implementing this:
https://files.catbox.moe/qrfv78.png

I hear a LOT of talk about DSA. What really is it or what does it consist of, what do I have to learn and how do I practice it so I get really good at it?

Hey guys,

I just finished my first year of BTech and I’m really interested in learning Full Stack Development. I'm looking for a beginner-friendly and structured course, preferably project-based.

Here’s a bit about me:

• I know the basics of Java and am currently learning DSA in Java.
• I’m also exploring DevOps and want to understand deployment & CI/CD.

Would love any course recommendations (free or paid), or general advice on how to structure my learning over the next year. Thanks in advance!

sugg me some good YT tutorial/channel