Hi, I’m a newbie in coding, especially when it comes to sitting and writing your own code. Without ChatGPTs or Geminis, without auto-completions from Copilot, without StackOverflow and such thing. It seems like when I watch a video tutorial or read someone’s code, I understand the process and structure. But tell me to code something similar and I won’t be able to write more than 5 lines of code.
To break out of this ‘comfort zone’, I’ve started to think about an algorithm in my native language. I write down my thoughts and instructions — where should I start, what will be next. Then I try to simplify my logic so that my code doesn’t do unnecessary extra steps. And after my algorithm is complete, I start to code.
I’ve heard from a YouTube video that coming up with an algorithm in your native language before putting an assignment to code is actually something that experienced programmers do. I’ve also watched some IT recruiters ask people to say the thought process out loud during interviews.
What do you think about all this? What are your methods to break out of the ‘I can’t code myself’ mind zone?
What someone is doing by writing algorithms in their native language is exactly what strong developers do. It’s basically pseudocode, and it forces you to think about logic instead of syntax. That’s the real muscle to build. The syntax is just a way to communicate that logic to the computer
Personally, I also try to re-create small parts of tutorials from memory a few hours later. Even if I forget steps, I fill the gaps with my own logic. That moment when your brain connects those dots is when you start truly coding on your own.
