Is it normal to understand programming exercises but still struggle with projects?

Yes, this is completely normal. Exercises give you a well-defined problem, constraints, and expected outcome, while a personal project starts with a blank page and requires you to decide what to build, how to break it down, and which tools to use. Those are different skills. Keep practicing, but start with very small projects based on something useful or interesting to you. Confidence comes from finishing things, not from waiting until you feel ready.

Try building a project that is only slightly beyond your current ability, such as a command-line to-do list, a text game, a calendar generator, or a small app that uses a public API. Break it into tiny tasks and accept that you will get stuck. You can study examples or ask tools for explanations, but make sure you understand and adapt what you use instead of blindly copying it. Completing a modest project teaches you much more about real development than trying to create something huge from scratch.

Don't worry about memorizing every Python detail. The important skill is understanding concepts: breaking a problem into smaller parts, designing a solution, and translating that solution into code. Looking up syntax, documentation, or examples is normal even for experienced programmers. Repetition will make commonly used patterns easier to recall, while less frequently used details can simply be searched when needed.

Your progress probably isn't as linear as it feels. Even experienced developers sometimes feel like they can't code, because there is always more to learn and every new project introduces unfamiliar problems. Measure yourself by whether you are improving at reasoning through problems, debugging, and finding reliable information—not by how much syntax you can recite. Keep practicing and gradually increase the scope and complexity of your projects.