I've been trying to learn programming for about four years, but I still haven't released a polished project. Whenever I start building something, I either switch to another language or decide that the project structure is wrong and delete everything to start over. I want to finally complete something, but I don't know what kind of project to choose or which language to commit to. How can I break this cycle?
5 Answers
It may also be worth asking whether you actually enjoy the project itself or just like the idea of having completed one. If you don't have a problem you genuinely want to solve, choosing a language won't fix that. Try a deliberately tiny project with a clear finish line, and aim for a working version rather than a perfect architecture.
Pick one target and one stack, then commit to it for a fixed period—maybe three or six months. Choose the stack based on the type of project you want to build, such as a website, desktop app, mobile app, or game. Don't switch tools just because another option looks interesting. Build a few small projects with the same stack and focus on learning it deeply rather than collecting languages.
Any mainstream language is fine to start with, and the choice won't lock you into a career forever. The important skills—breaking down problems, debugging, designing interfaces, and finishing work—carry between languages. Pick something suitable for a small project and stay with it long enough to make several things. You can explore other languages later without treating every frustration as a reason to restart.
The language probably isn't the main problem. Nearly every real codebase has design decisions that someone would change later, but projects still have to ship. Set a very small scope, accept that the first version will be messy, and make a rule that you aren't allowed to rewrite it from scratch. Refactor one part at a time only when there's a concrete reason.
Treat experiments and finished projects differently. Exploring languages is fine, but keep those experiments in small throwaway folders. For your main project, write down the minimum features, use version control, and keep old versions instead of deleting them. If the architecture bothers you, document the issue and continue until you have something usable; the experience of finishing will teach you more than another restart.
I think perfectionism is part of it. For example, I started a file manager in Odin, disliked how I was handling errors, and deleted the whole project. When I switch languages, I feel like I need to learn every feature before I can make better design decisions.