Ask HN: When does programming start to make sense?

How long did it take before you could write code on your own? Every time I try to learn programming, it feels painfully slow compared to other things I've picked up. Maybe I'm the opposite of a natural. I took C++ in college and studied Ruby & PHP on my own.

It took me a long, long time until I became reasonably confident that most problems would eventually succumb to my programming ability. Probably almost twenty years from when I wrote my first program, or a few years after college.

I can't write code on my own, though -- unless the problem is trivial and the APIs I'm using I know like the back of my hand, I need an Internet connection to do it.

Part of this issue is possibly that competent people are disproportionately stalked by the worry that they're secretly incompetent.

Picked up a few books, wrote basic programs, etc. When it got harder, found ways to ask people questions. I usually get frustrated when it comes to solving puzzles that aren't linear programs.

> Every time I try to learn programming, it feels painfully slow compared to other things I've picked up.

It's probably slow because you're not having fun with it. You're probably not having fun with it because you're not solving a compelling goal. Ask yourself whether you're learning "just to learn it" or are you trying to solve a problem and this particular language/api/compiler/implementation will help you achieve that goal.

I might be presumptuous here (and I apologize if I'm wrong) but the times I've found myself stuck "learning" have been when I was just going through the lessons for the heck of it, without a real goal in mind, without something to accomplish.

Also, have a look at this: http://railstips.org/blog/archives/2010/01/12/i-have-no-tale... I found it inspirational.