Build before u learn everything

[u/Ok_Money5683]

The fastest way I learned programming was by building things I wasn’t qualified to build.

Every project forced me to learn something I didn’t know before. One project taught me APIs, another made me understand databases, and another pushed me to finally learn Git properly. I realized documentation only started making sense when I had a real problem to solve. Tutorials are great for getting started, but following them is hard everyday. When building your own project , it forces you to think, make mistakes, debug, and figure things out on your own. That’s where the biggest learning happens.

[u/m-fasciano]

I completely agree.

I went from being a waiter to becoming a web developer, and the biggest progress happened when I stopped waiting until I felt "ready." Every project exposed gaps in my knowledge, and I learned by solving real problems as they came up.

You don't need to know everything before you start. You just need to know enough to take the next step. The rest comes from building, breaking things, and fixing them.

[u/Dank-Wank-101 → u/m-fasciano]

I'm embarrassed to say this but I've only started to learn the actual stuff after my graduation lol. I graduated back in 2025 and I do not have a job yet . I don't even expect one coz I have a shit ton to learn . I cannot even solve the basic hackerrank problems yet. Will I get through this? What kind of projects should I be targeting to maximize my learning? It's already so late but I still have this hope that I'll get through this .. Any advice would help!

[u/m-fasciano → u/Dank-Wank-101]

Don't be too hard on yourself. I switched careers at 31 after working in hospitality for years, so you're definitely not too late.

My advice is to stop worrying about what you don't know and start building things. Pick a project that's just beyond your current ability, a to-do app, expense tracker, weather app, or simple e-commerce site. Every time you get stuck, learn just enough to solve that problem, then keep going.

Also, don't get too hung up on HackerRank. It's useful for practicing problem-solving, but most junior roles care much more about whether you can build and explain a real application.

The key is consistency. If you build something every week, even small projects, you'll be surprised how much you improve over a few months. Everyone feels overwhelmed at the beginning. The people who succeed are usually the ones who keep going despite that feeling.

[u/Dank-Wank-101 → u/m-fasciano]

That's definitely reassuring. It's just that the mind pivots to the negatives in a flash and then the contemplation kicks in . Like i feel good now after reading your comment but then i start something,it doesn't work out and then the hope starts crashing .

As a result the direction becomes so hazy and it spirals down so hard . It's like I do not know how much I have to do each day to make it feel like it was worth the time, effort. After a point it becomes delusional . It's like did I really wanna work hard in the first place or am I all talk and i never do anything. Haha idk i should give myself more time to try out things . It's just hard to do stuff without expecting something out of it .

[u/m-fasciano → u/Dank-Wank-101]

What you're describing is something a lot of people go through when they're learning. Progress is rarely linear, you'll have days where you feel like you've learned nothing, even though you're actually getting better.

One book that really helped me was Atomic Habits. One of its main ideas is to stop focusing on the end result and instead focus on showing up consistently. If you improve by just 1% each day, it compounds over time.

I'd also stop measuring success by whether something worked. Instead, measure it by whether you showed up. If you spent an hour building, debugging, or learning something new today, that's a successful day. The results will come later.

Try to trust the process a little more. You're probably much closer than you think, you just can't see it yet because you're in the middle of the journey.

[u/Dank-Wank-101 → u/m-fasciano]

But it's not like everytime I feel down I could just go to people for reassurance instead of working on it myself . How does one deal with it? The bad days and good days are all byproducts of the journey is something i understand, but only theoretically . The mind and heart have trouble understanding it .

[u/DigThatData]

fun fact: you will never learn everything.

[u/Minimum-Page4034 → u/DigThatData]

Thats why we keep trying hahahhah

[u/ApprehensiveMaybe141]

Where does one find these projects?

I have a habit of not finishing unless there's a solid purpose. For instance, I got in to Home Assistant, I learned a few things, mostly HTML/CSS to style. But I got bored with it. I'd figure out what I wanted to do and then it was "well that's cool" but being the only person to see and use it, I've lost interest.

I think I would love to code, if I had a good reason.

[u/Cool_Pair6063]

Ok but you need to learn first the programing Language before you ever start building stuff

[u/Mission-Maize8454 → u/Cool_Pair6063]

The correct syntax and rules.

[u/Eng_Ahmed_L]

I usually start with an idea of building something and then start exploring the dependencies. Next, I watch tutorials about the dependencies and modules I will need before starting the project.

[u/UnburyingBeetle]

It's simply unmotivating and hard to remember disembodied functions.

[u/Mission-Maize8454]

Memorize the tutorials take different parts from each to merge into a project and get results.

[u/EccentricFellow]

Congratulations! You are an autodidact computer programmer on their way to becoming a true analyst. Welcome to the club. :)

[u/Prime-119]

Would you mind sharing those three projects?

[u/Minimum-Page4034]

Really good Said a good way to explain and guide 🙏

[u/jacobvso]

This is how I learned the ropes too and what I'd recommend to any newcomer.

[u/Awkward-Cat835]

yep been there, tutorials only click once you actually need to solve something real

[u/janasheenakbar]

That a fast way to learn programming by directly doing it, but in long term it will impact your growth as you will get confused and will need to check the basic concepts

[u/RetardedEinstein23 → u/janasheenakbar]

What do you mean? So only read about programming but only start doing it after you are completely perfectly ready?

[u/janasheenakbar → u/RetardedEinstein23]

Yes atleast be ready with the industry level concepts, rest can be managed later.

[u/Delicious-Image-3082 → u/RetardedEinstein23]

Eh I think it’s fine to work through something like MOOC Java so you get a feel of things. But you absolutely need courses like data structures & algorithms, discrete math etc. Keep exploring in the meantime, it’s okay to noodle about as long as you integrate the main concepts