Is it normal to feel that you know nothing about programming, even after a couple of months of programming?

#1

Hi,

I´ve been learning programming for 3 months about 8 hours per day. I´ve a weird feeling that there is so much to learn and I have a lot to learn still, that I don´t know if I should keep learning new things or master the basic stuff.

I´ve the felling that im not ready for an interview or to be a programer even though I´ve finished a lot of projects. I´m a little bit lost, Is it a normal feeling? do you feel the same?

#2

the-two-states-of-every-programmer

But really. I’ve been doing this for years and still feel like an idiot all the time.

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#3

Your feelings are clear to me. I think everything will change if you find a job.

1 Like
#4

I’m 10 years in front end and five years into back end and and very, very often I feel like I haven’t got a clue about a lot of/most things.

  • If you’re going from a starting point of zero, it will take you several years to get good at programming [in one language]. You’ll still be rubbish, you’ll just be able to.make real things that, surprisingly, generally work. It’s a complex skill, it takes a serious time investment. People who tell you differently are generally fibbing/omitting some important info about their own knowledge.
  • The more you learn, the less you know (ie the more you learn, the more knowledge you realise there is yet to learn, it just fractally expands).
  • Just keep learning new stuff, don’t get too bogged down on the minor details, they will come naturally. You can spend all your time learning the basics in excruciating detail, but they’re basics, they’re the easy bit. It’ll feel great to know that stuff, but it’s still basics, hard stuff will still be there and still be hard.
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#5

I’m doing this close to 2 decades now and I’m still learning something new everyday.

Just last night, learned about box-sizing CSS property! Heck… how did I last this long without knowing that?

Just make it your goal to learn something new everyday… it just adds up in the long run. As Depeche Mode says… “Everything counts in large amount.”

1 Like
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