Hey everyone, I'm a recent 2023 Computer Science graduate and finally landed a job after a long 1.5 years of searching. I'm reaching out because I'm struggling with coding in real situations. I know about OOP concepts and how to implement them, but when it comes to building something from scratch, I hit a wall. For example, I was tasked with writing a web scraper, and while I did manage to get it working using GPT, I felt pretty useless since I couldn't come up with the code myself initially. I didn't even know how to fetch a URL or check the response status using code. I also had to rely on GPT to figure out how to use BeautifulSoup for processing the HTML. My question is: what am I missing here? Is coding just not for me, or can I get better with practice? How should I approach improving my skills? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
3 Answers
First off, it's totally normal to feel overwhelmed. You're putting too much pressure on yourself for not knowing everything right away. Remember, coding is a skill that gets easier over time with practice. You know the fundamentals; that's a great start! It's okay to look things up—Google, documentation, and even AI can be helpful tools as long as you don't rely solely on them. Try writing comments before coding to clarify your thoughts; it really helps figure out what you can do and where you need to research more.
Using AI isn't a bad thing, but make sure you understand the code it generates! Once you're familiar with concepts, you'll find that you lean less on AI and rely on your understanding. For now, just keep pushing through the discomfort, keep coding, and revisit topics until they click for you. You'll get there!
Honestly, using AI like ChatGPT isn’t going to help you learn as effectively as doing the work yourself. Practice makes perfect! Start simple—build your own projects without any external help. Learn how to research solutions rather than looking for exact answers; it's a better way to learn. You’ll find that understanding comes from digging into your projects and figuring things out on your own.
For sure! Learning through struggle is the best way to understand programming deeply. Each small project will build your confidence and skills.