Sometimes when I am faced with coding problem. I go online, find a solution and then adapt it to do what I want it to do. I don’t always know the full logic, but I understand enough to know that if I tweak it this way it will work.
This worries me. Does this mean I will never really do well at a job? I just feel like a bit of a hack when I have done this.
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I would really encourage you to fully understand your solution before moving forward. Feel free to come here to get help with a challenge or understanding code.
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Thank you. I need to also ask. Sometimes I go back to challenges I have solved, here or elsewhere, and I can’t remember how I did. But I know in a vague sort of way, what I need to do. Like I know what tools will be needed and what sort of logic, but not the solution as I had written it.
Is that normal?
Thank you. I was talking about the JavaScript section. I am now doing Intermediate Algorithms. I go to Mozilla’s documentation a lot too. I just feel dumb at times.
Being able to perfectly recall a solution isn’t necessary (or even very useful). What’s important is being able to do it again because you know the tools and the logic. 
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Very helpful, thanks.
I have been coding for 8 years now-- it’s very normal to not remember a problem you solved a while back. And coding makes a lot of people feel dumb. That’s because coding is hard! But as long as you keep going you will be tougher than the problems. 
Each new experience will make the concepts clearer in your head. You might not see how it all fits together for a while and that’s OK. You have to get enough puzzle pieces on the board before you can start to see the big picture.
I think tweaking things is a great first step for learning. But you should ask yourself what each line of code is doing. If there’s a part that you’re not really sure about google it. Stuff like W3 schools is really helpful for explaining things in a simple way but really just find whatever resource is clear for YOU.
Keep it up! 
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I believe that you’ll get it if you continue to try to understand the parts you’re not fully understanding.
Here’s a trick to help make it stick. Take a project you’ve worked on (or are working on) and try to comment every line of code. When you run into trouble trying to describe what something does either look things up and try to formulate a description that way or make a note to ask for further clarification (and come ask here on the freeCodeCamp forum).
Note that programmers typically do not comment every line of code, but this is meant as a learning tool.
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Hi Macx,
‘never’ - a dangerous words you know.
It probably means you are intuitive. You sense your way around.
To me, learning how to code is like solving a 5000-piece jigsaw puzzle without a picture to go with it. You find isolated little patterns of pieces that fit together but you still can’t see the picture. It will get better. At some point in time islands of puzzle pieces will meet and you can see a much bigger pattern. Ah man, it’s all forgotten then. It’s like you’ve been walking around with a cold and a blocked nose, sneezing and sniffing for weeks, and suddenly, you can breathe again!
I also deeply dislike this feeling of not getting it. It’s an itch I can’t scratch, it gnaws away at me. Just, don’t quit, that’s all you need to do. Keep at it. These things take time.
Greets,
Karin
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thanks for encouraging
You are a legend! So thank you.