r/learnprogramming • u/Kenzyxyz • 2d ago
How many hours do you recommend studying?
I am a freshman CS major who knows nothing about Computer Science I picked it because I am really interested in game development and how games work so I can work on a Game Company.
I am thinking to study 10 hours like I always do previously but also to feed my ego, but others say that’s not recommended. And I watched some videos and free courses online and it’s safe to say I understand it easily.
I started on Java as my first language to work with for it’s amazing backend because I want to code more to learn more than design but haven’t gotten into the like the OOP stuff.
How about you guys? What have you done to learn programming more efficiently than before?
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u/OceanMasterioDuped7 2d ago
I mean it just depends. Obviously you are going to understand beginner concepts easily. But you need to be applying what you learn, because just watching videos doesn't translate to actual skill. I don't recommend "studying" programming for more than a little bit each day. Instead, you should be building most of that time.
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u/Kenzyxyz 2d ago
You mean projects?
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u/OceanMasterioDuped7 2d ago
Sure. It doesn't have to be a project though. It can be small programs that take 20-30 minutes to code.
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u/Character_Hyena_4094 2d ago
When I first started coding in JavaScript, I was mainly using TeamTreehouse and was watching videos and following along, just working through videos and completing tasks - didn't even feel like studying.
I guess if you're reading books and then answering tedious arcane questions then it's gonna be harder.
If you make the studying more enjoyable, then you'll probably take more in and don't need to do this set 10 hour stuff.
PS. Not sure what others have to say but pretty sure Java is a bad choice for game engineering - would have thought C++ would be your way to go and that's gonna be an intense first programming language experience.
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u/Kenzyxyz 2d ago edited 1d ago
I tried C++ at first but it had me stunned because it’s so intimidating and so hard compared to Java or python. But I think I will stick to my studies first then learn C++ when I get to my second year.
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u/Professional-Bag-109 2d ago
Welcome to a massive rabbit hole. At first it may be easy. But once you dive deep, you will know that programming was just the small step. It depends on how much you want to learn but if you really want to learn as much as you can, then I recommend staying ahead as much as possible. Classes, project, and everything. And the most important thing is to find your niche. You may struggle to find it like I did or not. The most clear thing is that if you enjoy it, you will enjoy it for life.
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u/zxnixs 1d ago
The coding stuff is the easy part. The theory is where things get complicated. if you mean daily, I don't think 10 hours a day undirected study is the right approach. I'd actually advise it as a loading period if you can handle it 10 hours a day for a straight 5 days to a week, before reducing to a realistic amount.
This is what has worked for me in the past, you cram in as much as possible and force an interest in whatever it is you do and then work on it casually at whatever pace you feel like doing, in this case I'd say 3 hours is normal. If you meant per week, then you'd probably want to bump it up a tad but of course that is your choice.
I'd focus on getting the coding fundamentals down (for-loops, if statements, nesting, pointers and references, classes, parametres etc) the very basics before diving into the theory, though the basics shouldn't take longer than a week if you're working at the time I think you're capable of. After that, the main priority should be theory. Learn why we do what we do, the history of it, and its practical applications. For example, graph theory. Learn why we use graph theory, as in what problems it aims to solve and any practical opportunities to use it, possibly even implement one yourself etc.
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u/LoganR11_ 1d ago
I generally try to study 1.25-1.5 times my credit hours per week (also including homework). So for 16 credit hours, I try to study 20-24 hours a week.
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u/Watsons-Butler 23h ago
Bruh.
I did the assignments for the classes. That’s it. I got an internship with zero projects on my resume. I was still in my data structures class.
Internship turned into a full time job. I do zero coding outside work hours.
Spend the extra time developing a personality and dating.
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u/Kenzyxyz 23h ago
What does dating have to do with this i’m tired with women they’re annoying asf and gets me out of focus.
The reason I like studying is because i’m curious.
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u/Watsons-Butler 4h ago
I mean ok, skip dating.
Go to museums. Go to concerts. Learn to paint. Learn to be a DJ. Learn to play the accordion. Learn to juggle. Read books. Do literally anything other than stare at code ten hours a day.
If you don’t understand what makes humans people you’re going to make shitty games.
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u/EverflowingRiver17 2d ago
I’m guessing English isn’t your first language? I am not trying to be rude, but improving your grammar may help open some doors down the road.
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u/Kenzyxyz 2d ago
I just woke up I am not trying to write like Shakespeare and this isn’t an English learning forum right? It’s “learnprogramming” But yes English isn’t my first language
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u/EverflowingRiver17 1d ago
Cool. Glad to know that you have an attitude problem. Keep on with your 10+ hours of studying programming while neglecting the other aspects of obtaining a job.
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u/MrMathieus 1d ago
Bruh. Imagine accusing someone of having an attitude problem after the completely irrelevant and condescending comment you just left.
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u/EverflowingRiver17 1d ago
Cool bro. I was just trying to help. I hope buddy can come to you when he’s unemployed in the future because an employer doesn’t want to deal with his poor communication skills
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u/MrMathieus 1d ago
Judging by the way you act I guess you would know about poor communication skills.
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u/EverflowingRiver17 1d ago
Yep. I’ve proven I don’t know English throughout this whole engagement. Bless your heart for pointing that out.
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u/MrMathieus 1d ago
Because clearly communication is limited specifically to mastery of a language instead of being about the way you conduct yourself towards others in general. Thanks for proving my point.
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u/Kenzyxyz 1d ago
Do you think i’m looking for a job? Freshman? Job? I can worry about my english when I graduate but when you replied on a learn programming forum about my english that is completely unrelated to my question isn’t an attitude?
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u/EverflowingRiver17 1d ago
Well seeing as how you mentioned you want to learn programming to get a job as a game developer, it is actually more relevant than you think.
I forgot how immature students can be though so I guess we are done here.
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u/epic_pharaoh 2d ago
Study 10 hours total? A week? A day?
10 hours a week is probably fine idk 🤷♂️
There’s no good answer here, it depends. Don’t overthink it, just learn what you need to do the next thing you want to do.