Why are you learning to program if not to build some specific software application?
Start doing it. Within seconds or minutes you'll hit your first problem that will need a solution. Keep doing that forever. You are now a programmer.
Ask HN: I've learned a programming language – how do I solve problems with code?
51–60 of 112 posts
Re: Ask HN: I've learned a programming language – how do I solve problems with code?
#52You're misunderstanding the question. What you're asking is "how do I find a problem?". Answer: get a job. Automate it. (???)?
Re: Ask HN: I've learned a programming language – how do I solve problems with code?
#53Hi bnb, I started programming around 20 years ago - self taught and experiencing the same problems as you in the early beginnings. I made mistakes when I started - jumping around between languages - thinking I couldn't grasp something - jumping from one tutorial to another, and another, and another - I wish I started learning algorithms & data structures earlier - I wish I took time to dive deep instead of rushing to…
This is an excellent attitude to have and may be the only healthy attitude.
As opposed to the conventional wisdom, which wants us to Never Settle by keeping on jumping between things, reading broadly and pretending you are a coding god after reading all the X vs Y articles, never building up enough expertise in any one thing, while holding out for that one gig that will hit the spot.
And Just Getting It To Work as is commonly understood really translates to Do a Shoddy Job So It Looks Good On The Surface, Fuck Understanding Or Actually Getting It To Really Work.
Re: Ask HN: I've learned a programming language – how do I solve problems with code?
#54A few of my friends are learning or have recently learned their first programming language. By my observation[0], what prevents them from building real projects is that while they know the language, they aren’t very comfortable with any frameworks.
I’m not arguing that you have to know frameworks to build real projects. However, I believe knowledge of a framework reduces the effort required to complete a working solution so dramatically that it changes the game, especially if you’re new to programming.
I’m not a pro by any means, but my practical advice would be: don’t stop at having learned JavaScript (the language) and Node.js (the platform). Learn Meteor.js[1], build all the examples you can find in the official docs, and after you become familiar with the process—the ideas will flow.
[0] It was a surprise to me, but in retrospect it should’ve been obvious as I myself have quite literally learned Django before Python.
[1] Meteor is just an example that came to my mind, I’m not affiliated with them and it’s possible that there are better choices in the land of Node.js-based web frameworks.
Re: Ask HN: I've learned a programming language – how do I solve problems with code?
#55Excellent question for a Friday. Coding is like welding, how do you find two pieces of metal that need to be joined? Generally the answer is visualize something that could exist, but does not exist, and then fill in the parts that need to be there for it to exist. What you need at this point are a series of assignments which are self-contained problems with known solutions. The assignment 'create a web server that di…
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Re: Ask HN: I've learned a programming language – how do I solve problems with code?
#56I think what your question implies is this: "I learned how to write Javascript in a black box where I'm not solving real world problems, and instead just learned how to print static text."
Programming, like anything, is a tool - you learn the features which might not sound like solutions to problems, and with practice you start crossing your programming mind with normal day to day mind. Let me give you an example.
I got the mega Creative Market Black Friday Photos bundle yesterday. To my surprise, the photos are all separate, so instead of one zip file for me to download, or a "Download All" button, it gave me a list of 100 or so buttons to click to download INDIVIDUALLY. Conveniently (or not), they added a "Save to Dropbox" button to each item, but that doesn't help at all, there's still no "Save all to Dropbox" button.
So after clicking on 5 or 6 items... I started to give up, then suddenly my programming mind jumped in and said to me "hey dude why don't just go into the console and select all the elements and do a `trigger('click')`?" So I jumped into the console, and typed
`$(".start-sync").trigger("click")`
I didn't even bother to check if the site uses jQuery, I just typed it in and it worked!
Now, if you were to jump in and helped them add a "Sync All to Dropbox" button, don't you think that's gonna be really beneficial to a lot of the users?
You might have learned the feature in jQuery to trigger an action, but to actually do something with it to solve a problem you need to not only learn the tools, but also start thinking about problems using your programmer brain.
Re: Ask HN: I've learned a programming language – how do I solve problems with code?
#57You hit the nail on the head with a huge question, not sure if was on purpose or not but well done.
Your question is much more important than learning code even for a long time. That is a good start. Even super great developers never solve a real problem.
Solving a problem, demonstrating a business model and creating a successful start up are -to my eyes- more and less the same thing and takes years of extraordinary hard work, much more work than people at an office could even imagine.
My advice, watch all these videos are amazingly useful http://startupclass.samaltman.com and try to attach as much as possible to the advices.
Best of the luck! Great start.
Regards.
Re: Ask HN: I've learned a programming language – how do I solve problems with code?
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't know why this got downvoted, it is very intelligent and I completely agree. Especially for kids, the most effective way to learn coding is to have complete visibility over all the underlying components.
Outside academia it is all about conformance to requirements -- i.e. you get paid to solve a problem for somebody somewhere.
True. But my read of the OP is that they learned for the pleasure and interest of it. They want to "solve problems" for the intellectual satisfaction and joy of doing so, not because someone is paying them or anticipating doing so.
We have to master the skills before we get rewarded for them.
Re: Ask HN: I've learned a programming language – how do I solve problems with code?
#59Start. Jump in head first. Before you're ready.
I made my first video game when I was 13 years old. I made it because I wanted to make something for a girl I liked. I used Macromedia Flash, learned as I went along, and never lost site of the goal. I had to impress this girl.
Sometimes we are inspired by technology to do things. The reason an engineer might give to building something bizarre: "I'm building this because I can." I think it's better to have the goal in mind first, though of course we may only think of solutions to problems because we also understand the tools we have available to us.
It's easy to solve a problem with programming once you know what problem you want to solve. I don't think anything great is made when you try to come up with a product based purely on technology. It's great that you learned JavaScript, I happen to think programming is a blast! And learning new tools, languages, frameworks, or paradigms are always great for the left side of my brain. But programming has always been the most fun, most rewarding, and easiest when I'm deep into solving a problem. The "how" is straightforward: you Google the error message, you Google the 'how to perform X function with Y language on Z platform', you ask friends and family to test and break your likely fragile baby, you build a business, et cetera.
Try to solve an issue you have. Try to solve someone else's issue. Try to solve an issue many people have. Or, browse GitHub.com, and work on another person's solution.
Did the girl I made that game for ever go out with me? No. But it didn't matter.
I got started.
Re: Ask HN: I've learned a programming language – how do I solve problems with code?
#60Just do it! You need to pick a pet/side project of something you want to work on and try to figure out how to get there with code. Perhaps start with a framework and go from there. If you can't come up with a project, find yourself a product person friend who can brainstorm ideas with you and work on it together. Where are you based?