I last programmed seriously during a computing and engineering course in the early 1990s, where I learned Pascal, C, and UNIX. Since then, I moved into electronics repair and arcade fault-finding, so programming largely fell by the wayside. I now run a retail shop and Shopify-based website, mainly selling vinyl and comics, and I would like to build small tools to automate product imports, data cleanup, pricing comparisons, discounts, and marketplace offers. I have experimented with AI-generated code and can usually follow its logic, but I would not yet be able to write the same programs from scratch. I want to use AI as a helpful tool without blindly depending on it. What would be the best way to relearn programming, choose a suitable language, and gradually become capable of writing or modifying useful applications myself?
5 Answers
Your old programming experience has not disappeared; the syntax and tools have changed, but the core ideas still apply. Pick a small project you genuinely need, such as importing products or comparing prices. Ask the AI to explain each part, then close the generated answer and try rewriting one function yourself. Gradually increase the size of the sections you write, and test each change rather than accepting the whole application at once.
The amount of depth you need depends on the consequences of failure. For a private tool that saves you time, AI can do more of the heavy lifting, provided you review the code, protect credentials, validate its output, and keep backups. If the tool handles orders, prices, or customer information, learn enough to understand authentication, data validation, security, and testing rather than treating the generated code as trustworthy by default.
Use a structured beginner course or book and actually complete the exercises. Cover variables, control flow, functions, data structures, files, APIs, error handling, testing, and basic databases before attempting a large application. AI can act like a tutor, but make it explain errors and ask you questions instead of only generating finished code. That will build the syntax and problem-solving muscle you are currently missing.
Free resources such as W3Schools and roadmap.sh can help you see what to learn next, but avoid trying to study everything before building anything. A good progression would be a command-line script, then a program that reads and writes product data, then an API integration, and finally a small web interface. Each project can solve a real shop problem while teaching one new set of concepts.
Start with the goal rather than choosing a language first. For tools involving Shopify, web services, product data, and marketplace integrations, JavaScript or TypeScript with Node.js could be a strong choice. Python is also excellent for automation, spreadsheets, imports, comparisons, and data processing. Either has plenty of beginner-friendly material, so choose one and stick with it for a while instead of constantly switching.
That makes sense. Most of my first projects would be business automation rather than anything customer-facing, so I’ll compare Python with JavaScript and choose one practical project to begin with.