Frustrations of learning programming/web development

Hi sonicakes,
I grew up in the middle east but went to an international school for Indians. And typically there, or in India girls, tend to perform better in general than boys - we had segregated schools, i.e. one for boys and one for girls and exams and marks are a big deal so there’d always be comparisons and pages in school publications of the top performers etcetera.

Just what I was used to growing up. So it’s somewhat confusing when you go to western country where the overriding theory is that girls tend to not associated with math or science based subjects. Now this was just my high-school experience and don’t know how that might translate to university or professionally, so might even out in the long run. But regardless, based on group ratings or what the status quo is in society doesn’t mean you have to be complacent and go along with it. You just have to do what’s needed to get things done, ignore the rest.

Codepen is free for the most part, unless if you want the pro version unless if you’re talking about something else. And the course on coursera I’m pretty sure you have an option of auditing the course, in which case it’s free. The paid version is for a certificate of completion I think, but you get most of what you need from auditing. Try signing up and seeing if you can audit instead of paying for the certified version.
I cannot recommend that course enough. There’s a accompanying book called ‘A mind for numbers’ by Barbara Oakley. And check out this Ted talk that she gave https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O96fE1E-rf8

And for free ones, i’m sure you’ve come across it, but if not try www.codeacademy.com

Good luck

Exactly! “Don’t worry about IQ”. There is really no way to accurately measure how smart a person is. But that also means don’t be afraid to take the tests. They’re fun and interesting, but they ultimately tell you nothing - unless your score is extremely far away, in either direction, from 100.

I take issue with the fact that some people think they’re just not smart enough. With a few obvious exceptions, all minds can do what another can. We tell ourselves that we’re just not cut out for it and don’t even try. That’s BS. It all comes down to what you love. If you love it, you’re cut out for it. The only difference from a successful mind to a coasting one is training, and by that I mean self-training.

Keep doing it. There’s a brain thing called “latent learning”. The more you do it, the more you remember. Don’t worry about copying. It’s okay to copy. Only, if you do, type it out, or better yet, write it down, but copying does help you learn.

Oh, and you’re perfect.

The things you call imperfections are what make you you, so you’re perfectly you. :slight_smile:

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You are not dumb, nor stupid and don’t bring the IQ into your studies! Programming / Developing is hard, yes, we have a number of posts, medium stories and FB posts about it, but you can’t cry because you can’t solve at the first try. Baby steps, always remember to take baby steps, it’s not a sin to search for help. Google is here for that, just try not to see the solved exercise.

There is nothing wrong with you, you just have the same feeling as everyone. We all have that. Sometimes it takes me a few days to have a solved algorithm challenge in FCC.

Programming is hard and being JS also adds 1 to the difficult. Don’t take it to serious because it can lead you to depression for trying to hard and not see results, rather take a break, leave home, go for a walk or do something totally unrealted to programming, you will be admired how the brain works in inexplicable ways.

I find myself having a “eureka” moments when im at the gym, beach, gaming and when im sleeping.

Just dont give up, it doesn’t matter if you take a month to solve a algorithm challenge. What it matters is to get your brain to start think in that way. Once you get the hand of it, it will be easier, you will see.

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Hi Sonicakes,
Let me just say that all types of programming can be frustrating, but take pleasure in the small victories.
I have been programming since 1979 and still often feel frustrated. I have been unemployed for 8 months because I am not up on 100% of the newest technology. If an employer wants 11 skills and I have 10 they won’t even talk to me.
That said, I have been trying to learn all the latest technology (ASP.NET MVC, C#, Angular, Node, etc.) and I am severely frustrated on a daily basis. It shouldn’t be this difficult, especially with all my experience.
HOWEVER, when you do have an A-HA moment, give yourself a pat on the back. ALSO, I am a very visual and tactile learner, so trying to teach myself off the internet is extremely difficult. I’m sure it is for you as well, by what you are saying.
My advice when you are frustrated is to stand up, take a deep breath, clear your head for a few minutes (have a drink, walk outside and smell the breeze)… Then go back and google what you are having trouble with and find different perspectives of the same problem with what you are trying to code. It usually takes me 3 or 4 different examples of the same issue, approached from different angles to 1) understand the problem (most important) and 2) understand the solutions (yes there is always more than one solution.
One you figure out how you learn the best, you will find that coding actually allows you very much freedom of expression, which sounds like you have a lot of.
If you have any questions with logical algorithms or JS feel free to send me a message at my homepage and I will try my best to help.
Tom www.tomtekdev.com

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I’m a bit late to this topic but I’d nitpick and say that Programming is less language skills and more academic logic skills and while its moderate math, it tends to follow the sort of thinking that lends itself well to math. I too am more Social studies oriented.

Having said that I’d point out one thing that jumps out. You are learning programming to gain employment. I’m sure there is some aspect of programming that must be stimulating to you. Now figure out how to solve a problem in your life by programming. Maybe its a repeatable task at your day job. Maybe its knowing when your favorite TV show comes on. Whatever your passion is, learn how to build that.

Its not about being smart enough to program. I believe everyone could learn how to build decent tools if they applied themselves. I know a lot of idiots that are geniuses when it comes to car. Think of programming as a tool. Its a tool to build things you love doing.

So don’t think of this as a job prerequisite, think of this like an avenue towards solving a few fixable headaches in your life.

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Omg, I absolutely love this board with the tags and everything. I should do one like this too…Thanks for sharing!

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Lots of good stuff here so I wont repeat - but to say your sex and your IQ have nothing to do with how you will succeed over time - do a bit of research and you’ll see both ideas are based on old, crappy science (men only wish they were smarter than all women! and IQ tests were designed to score white men highest…). Also, frustration is only proof you’re trying to develop genuine understanding rather than rushing through to say you did:) You can 100% do this!
Anyways, I use atom (and don’t so much like codepen) too and one of the things that most helped me was downloading the package “HTML preview” - so I can have the file on one side and a preview of the output on the other.
I then set up a file that I could fill all the details of the algorithm challenges into so that the instructions, test and output all would show in the HTML preview. It’s prob easier to show than explain… Just starting a new one so no solution yet
If you want a copy of my file, I can 100% send :slight_smile: It helped me a lot to see what outputs I was getting (I often set it up to output for every single step) and what was/wasn’t working. It’s frustrating to just get a string of :x::x::x: and this way you can see what you are getting and what parts you’re missing. Most of the algorithms will have a few easy cases and a few hard ones, seeing each step you get is a leap in the right direction :slight_smile:

My last 2cents - 100% absolutely sign up for the cohorts! prob the best decision I’ve made here; they have the nicest people and greatest resources (next to this forum of course!), with great projects and it’s people in similar situations/levels to you so it’s like suddenly getting a bunch of new team-mates who get exactly what you’re going through :smiley:

You’ve got this!

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For quick job and money try freelance platforms, where tiny paid tasks exists.
I think, you must starting your own project right now. I see ambitions in your message and only when you satisfying them you will be happy. Maybe it will be linked to storywriting or your Espanol / Francais knowledge or kids activities. The programming langs is only tools for achiving goals, so truly creator need to has her own goal.

So learning cource to all points do not erase the responsibilty for deciding how to use your skills.

About he / she, boys / girls. It is you mentioned about it. Most of programmers - mens. Deep in their mind they always will be think that they better then you. Even if you show them some cool results. Spending efforts and time only to prove opposite - bad idea. As a girl you have many creative benefits, inspire, feelings and emotions - thats all can be your advantages. Use them. No one can’t tell you how. Think on your own. Thats my advise, Sonya=)

Speaking as a boy/man. I absolutely did break down crying at least once going through the algorithm challenges. The experiences you describe are very similar to mine overall. Only recently have things started to come together for me, and I still sometimes hit walls that drive me to emotional breakdown levels of frustration, but I’ve definitely gotten better at not taking it so hard. I guess I just mean to say that there is nothing necessarily wrong with you that you find it this hard, hang in there, I think you’ll get there in time.

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Coucou ! Je crois que tu parles français ? Accroches-toi, c’est tout à fait normale au début, il faut que tu comprennes la logique du langage de programmation, et que tu ai un peu de recule, surtout ne laisse pas tomber !

Hi Sonicakes,

i can relate with your frustrations, learning to code can be hard. Specially if you don’t have prior background in computing. But don’t despair, if you stick with it, and enjoy getting the computer to do your bidding, you’ll get there. it just takes time.

Having said that, getting some help from a more experienced hand in the way of mentoring and showing the ropes (and tricks) could be just what you need to get your stride.

I didn’t read all the replies, but have you tried attending a MeetUp in your area? Working in person with fellow campers may be of more value to you than tackling another course like Udemy by yourself. I think you’re going to get bogged down in courses. Don’t get me wrong, Iam a big advocate of Udemy and Lynda.com. But sometimes we just need things explained to us in language we can relate to.

I haven’t attended a meetup myself, but Iam sure there would more than be a few people there who would be willing to lend you a hand.

Otherwise, if you like, send me a message and we can tee up a Skype session.

I am no HTML,CSS,JS expert, but i’ve been in the IT industry for a long time and I know what to do to get myself through most situations (given enough base knowledge). Iam doing FFC to update my skills and rekindle my love for coding. I am up to the Random Quote machine, I think it’s taken me 3 weeks so far. I do a couple of hours a night. I am having fun with it and learning lots in the process. I keep adding functionality :slight_smile:

Anyway, I hope you stick with it and good luck getting your dream job.

All the best
RockLobster7

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Ya I understand this.

That’s why I have shifted to testing field. Now i feels realx.

It is a large challenge. I had a lot of struggles when I first started learning to actually solve problems. I used to think I was not smart enough to solve problems, then the more I practiced an practiced the more easier it was for me to solve problems and to think like a programmer. I practiced constantly and used sites like projecteuler, codewars, hackerrank, and coding game. I kept at it. Most programmers go through this also. A lot of struggling with solving basic problems, then slow and gradual increase in skill. I think anybody who is not mentally challenged and works hard enough can learn programming. It just takes a lot of work. Keep at it, you will improve. :slight_smile:

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Hi there @Unabashedley,

Thank you for your feedback :slight_smile:

Just installed HTML preview in Atom -this stuff is really useful, I used to save and open my html in Chrome, which was annoying sometimes. Thank you for suggesting that!

Btw absolutely love Atom! Udemy web dev course suggests Sublime, but I tried it and still like Atom more :slight_smile: I guess they are basically the same but still…

Yep yep I agree that stereotype is BS. However…for my message here it’s mostly guys who reply if I’m correct. No connection, maybe girls are just busy doing other awesome stuff because they are better at multitasking (is that outdated stereotype too? Need to check.

I agree console.log is a great tool, I do it Chrome console atm (same principle).

What do you mean by ‘cohorts’? Googled it just now and got bunch of unrelated stuff. Can you explain please? :slight_smile:

Cheers!

Woman make up only around %15 of the tech workforce, so it makes sense more men reply. In a different survey I found states men make up 92% of developers.

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wow, ok, but i think this is going to change real soon!

Yeah, check out pyladies. It’s a large community for woman to talk and have conferences about python. It’ll take a lot of time to get woman interested in software since normally they are brought up to find other careers more interesting.

Hi, I just wanted to say, that although I am male, we have so many feelings in common. I feel defeated way too often and keep thinking it must be me, too old, not intelligent enough, or whatever else. Deep inside I know it is not the cause but despite desire to become a “magician” (developer) I struggle sooooo much!

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Hi,

Most people will struggle with learning to code. It’s hard. Here are a few articles and a video for some motivation. Which I find helps me keep going.

https://johnresig.com/blog/write-code-every-day/

Hang in there, and keep on trucking.

Heath

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