I'm in my second year of studying information science in college, and I've been trying to dive into coding, but I feel like I'm really struggling. I've never coded before, and while I've been working at a job related to my studies for a few years, I often find myself feeling incompetent when it comes to coding tasks. I can handle exams and have watched tons of basic tutorials, but when I have to deal with huge codebases, I just freeze up and don't know where to begin. I thought getting real-world experience would help, but instead, I feel more lost and disconnected. How do others manage to learn coding and handle big projects?
1 Answer
It sounds like you're trying to leap too quickly from basic concepts to tackling a giant codebase. Think of it like learning a trade; you wouldn’t start building a skyscraper right off the bat! As a professional dev, I can tell you it took me a while to get comfortable with large projects, especially if they use patterns & libraries I’m not familiar with. Start small with really simple projects, follow tutorials step by step, and once you get the basics down, try tweaking one feature at a time. Trust me, you'll find it way easier than jumping right into those massive programs!
That makes a lot of sense! I often feel pressured to deliver quickly at work, which doesn't help my learning. Do you think having a slower, more structured project would benefit someone like me?