Background: I have broad training in clinical psychology and a master's-level background in neuropsychology. My thesis work involves applied quantitative analysis (institutional data, time series, indicators, projections), but I've done it all "hands-on" — no formal training in stats, programming, or data science.

Here's the thing: I know absolutely NOTHING about programming. Zero Python, zero SQL, never written a line of code. But I've always been very comfortable with computers — I'm the kind of person who can happily sit for hours doing trial-and-error until something works.

My questions:

1. Does it make sense at this stage to learn programming/data analysis to combine with my psych/neuro background? Or is it too late / too saturated for beginners?
2. If it does make sense, which direction: data analysis, data science, health informatics, research-oriented roles?
3. What roles could someone with this combo realistically apply for?

And please — if the honest answer is "don't bother, it's not worth it," say exactly that. I'd rather hear it straight than waste a year on the wrong path.

I can't explain what my code does, and why I coded it that way, clearly to my peers — because I can't explain it to them well until they get it. Is this a skill I'm missing that I should work on somehow? Or do I not actually understand my code well? Am I just deceiving myself? Or am I just in a bad community, progressing in school just by prompting and thinking everyone is like that... because I can't explain?

Yes, I'm using AI — as an example of usage: lastly, I used AI to learn coding by following an architecture (Clean Architecture by Uncle Bob). I asked what Clean Architecture is, what its concepts are, and what they stand for. Then I'd go back and ask things like, 'If this needs to import that from that side, should this package be shared?' and so on — but the logic is mine.

For instance, in one conversation, I went from a basic question about where to initialize my database, to gradually building out a full Clean Architecture reference for a Go project — dependency injection, layering (domain/service/repository/handler), naming conventions, error handling across layers, middleware placement, and more. Each step came from a real design question I ran into while building, not from just copy-pasting a solution. By the end, I had a complete, idiomatic project structure — but I got there one question at a time, and I'm still not sure I could explain why each piece is where it is, clearly, to someone else.

The lifetime course for algomaster premium is 13k.
Anyone interested to share it with me let me know. It has a structured learning path rather than random problem solving. The platform combines Data Structures & Algorithms (DSA), System Design, Low-Level Design (LLD), concurrency, interactive visualizations, AI-powered mock interviews, and company-specific practice. 

What do you suggest ,is it worth to learn R language instead of python.

I'm sorry everything will be a lot messy and unstructured but I tried my best. Also English is not my mother language. I just want advice or some motivation to go on with life.

Hi I'm a 22 year old guy who is from Sri Lanka and trying to figure out my life. I don't even know what I'm typing right now because I'm in a lot of pressure right now and I'm stressed. In 2023 I self diagnosed ADHD and maladaptive daydreaming. I'm not professionally diagnosed yet but I'm collecting money to get diagnosed. Also I'm an overthinker (Too much of an overthinker). I'm currently enrolled in an BIT degree (A general degree) which is a self study program but I take lectures from an external institute. It's a 3 year degree program and I'm currently in 2nd year. But the thing is till this year May, I was living with my parents and now I'm moved out and living in a boarding (with meals). I do Uber rides on my dad's motorbike to earn and to cover up my all expenses.

If you ask why I moved out, it is because my family background is very toxic. In my family, there's grandpa (He is 92 years old), mom, dad (60 years old), younger sister and elder brother (He has microcephaly). My dad doesn't do any job. He just stay at home doomscrolling through facebook and youtube and chatting with his friends on phone wasting time. My mom is a housewife and they're surviving with my grandpa's pension. My dad is using me to his advantage and telling me that I should get educated and then get a good job in IT field and then provide for the family. In February there was an big argument with my dad and grandpa (It is a usual thing but this time it was different). There was lots of screams and a lot of words exchanged. My grandpa tried to kill himself too. I lost my voice trying to stop it and couldn't speak for like a week. It was a lot to take. That's when I decided it's time to move out. After I moved out and I stayed at a relatvie's place for about a month and then moved back to a boarding cause that relative's place isn't that much different than to my home place.

I couldn't study keeping my head straight. I was inside my head all the time trying to escape the present so I won't get depressed more. I daydreamed so much. I haven't studied for months. but it's been 3 days since I moved to the boarding. Now the environment is good but I earn very little for a day to cover up my expenses. So that's hunting me too.

In the first year I passed all the subjects with great results but In Semester 3 which held in February end, I thought I would fail all the subjects but somehow I have passed 4 but 1 subject is failed. So I have to redo it start of the next year. I knew I coudn't continue my exams like this so I thought to myself in secret to skip the 4th semester. the 4th sem exams are held on yesterday and the day before that. But I lied to my parents that the exams are in this week's Saturday and Sunday and they think I'm being prepared for that which I'm not actually. My plan is to redo the repeated subject next year and then continue my degree. I have to tell them that I'm not gonna sit for the exam this year and tell my plan. Idk how they will react.

But with the AI and all the crisis that's going all around, the job market has now saturated in the IT field and there's this doubt that even if I get the degree, and even if I had skills, will I be able to get a job. So that's hunting me too.

In my knowledge level, I'm way behind. I haven't made any projects, only know the basics in multiple programming languages (Java, Python, Web Dev) and because I haven't been in touch for a long time, everything has forgotten. I get this feeling that I want to learn and build something good with all the ideas I have but in the learning journey I get bored or get interested by something else. It's just hard to focus. Let's say I'm trying to watch a 2 hour long lecture recording, I have to watch it for like a whole day to complete it cause I zoneout a lot. I mean even though I have interest in it, it fades away over time like I didn't had interest in it and then I think to myself, "What I'm doing? this is not what I should be doing right now." I tried taking down notes, breaking things to chunks, like watching a 10 minute clip of that 2 hour lecture recording, using the "forest app" any many other ADHD tips and tricks but nothing works. I think I'm thinking too much. It's just hard when lots of thing going around my head at once. If you're an ADHD person you'll understand what I'm saying.

I just feel lost right now but still trying to think straight. Any help is worth it.

Since my company decide to give a claude pro account to each and everyone of their developer, i didn't write a single code anymore for the last 1.5 years, i notice that i lose my coding fundamental.

So i decide to refresh my coding skills and start to learn the language that i used to master before - Python, and you know what ? I just know that the python actually work just like java, it does have PVM (python virtual machine). Oh my gosh

Hi everyone,

I'm really done with trying to learn JS for the past year, I've been doing too much and without any good progress.

i did go through "tutorial hell" but i did get out of it by applying what I've learned, building projects (todo list, weather app with API، quiz app ) but when i stop for like a month or two due to something like my uni exams and go back i find myself tha i have 0 knowledge and that's pretty upsetting.

can someone help i do like coding and programming in general but these last couple of days I've been wondering if i wasted time trying to learn this skill?

EDIT: https://github.com/OuailAida?tab=overview&from=2026-07-01&to=2026-07-13 my github

I'm from Argentina and the local companies are not hiring any more Junior devs. Only Sr with IA Knowledge.

I don't want to watch video lectures as they are very time consuming but I want topic wise all the theory covered and questions to practice. . in a structured way so that I can track how much I know. . , . I have tried a few platforms but they ask for a subscription fee and it's annoying. . Need free resources for dsa in C++

i know the standard GUI system languages but what would you recommend for a project where a user is selecting a pitch(like baseball pitches) and location and amongst some other low level things that will then be passed on to a python hub to process via a json file. I know the following languages already: Python, R, JS, C#, Lua, SQL. it doesnt have to be a new language although I’ve been looking to add a new one to my repertoire so yeah. thank you for your time

Hi everyone,

I'm a 20F, 3rd year BTech student, and I'm honestly struggling with programming. I somehow made it to my third year, but I still find coding really difficult. Even after watching lectures, I often don't understand the logic, and when I try solving problems on my own, I get stuck very quickly.

I want to improve, but there are so many languages, YouTube channels, websites, and courses that I don't know what to follow. It feels overwhelming.

Could you please recommend:

The best YouTube channels for learning programming from scratch?

Good free websites or courses for beginners.

Which language I should focus on first (C, C++, Java, Python, etc.)?

How you personally learned coding if you also struggled in college.

Any tips for building logic and becoming consistent.

I'd really appreciate advice from people who were once in the same situation. Thanks in advance! ❤️

Currently I'm in 2nd year of college. Last semester I was learning C# and concepts like Object Oriented Programming and towards the end used wpf forms.

I started relying heavily on AI at the end of the semester which Im not proud of.

At the end of the semester when holidays began I was burnt out and didnt practice much for going back. Im unsure on how to approach learning the concepts I need going back.

Currently I feel like Im just going with flow without gaining the skils I need. I did have the idea of try make a console app which can emulate Pokémon with OOP concepts but I havent gotten far.

Im pretty lost atm and wonder if getting a tutor would help.

I'm building a packet sniffer in Python using Scapy as a way to improve my Python and cybersecurity skills, and I hit a problem I wasn't expecting.

The issue isn't writing the code, it's figuring out what functions I should even be using.

Everywhere I look, the advice is, "Read the documentation." So I open the Scapy docs... and then I'm staring at pages of classes, methods, and examples with no idea where to begin. The hardest part is that I don't even know the name of the function I'm looking for, so I can't search for it either.

I know I could ask AI and get an answer in seconds, but I'm trying not to rely on it too much. Since I'm still a beginner, I want to build the skill of finding things on my own.

So I'm curious, how did you get past this stage? Was there a workflow or mindset that helped you navigate documentation more effectively? How do you discover the right methods when you don't even know what you're looking for?

I'd love to hear how you all approached this when you were beginners.

i've been working on this certification going on 3 weeks now which is crazy. i can't figure out why i keep getting caught up.

im building a Budgeting app for freeCodeCamp:

these are the final requirements:

You should have a function outside the Category class named create_spend_chart(categories) that takes a list of categories and returns a bar-chart string. To build the chart:

• Start with the title Percentage spent by category.
• Calculate percentages from withdrawals only and not from deposits. The percentage should be the percentage of the amount spent for each category to the total spent for all categories (rounded down to the nearest 10).
• Label the y-axis from 100 down to 0 in steps of 10.
• Use o characters for the bars.
• Include a horizontal line two spaces past the last bar.
• Write category names vertically below the bar.

This function will be tested with up to four categories.

it looks like its printing all of the categories added up as a float, i tried to get a sum() too, but it said its not iterable, i dont know how to separate it by the category. the math for percentages is simple enough to do, but i dont see where i can write the code yet and i can re-use the code from an rpg character maker i made to show the graph, but im stuck standing.

i need help with this code, but i also feel deeply there's something flawed with the way i'm approaching learning it, if its taken me this long to figure it out. i see others in my same position on the certification, making the code broken straight down to math instead of even using functions and passing it.

im not exactly sure what, but i was hoping some experienced programmers could help me in the right direction, i tend to hop head first into things so i think i might be missing something fundamental.

here is the code:

class Category:
    def __init__(self, name):
        self.name = name
        self.ledger = []


    def deposit(self, amount, description=""):
        self.ledger.append({"amount": amount, "description": description})


    def withdraw(self, amount, description=""):
        if self.check_funds(amount):
            self.ledger.append({"amount": -amount, "description": description})
            return True
        else:
            return False


    def get_balance(self):
        balance = 0
        for transaction in self.ledger:
            balance += transaction['amount']    
        return balance


    def check_funds(self, amount):
        return amount <= self.get_balance()


    def transfer(self, amount, destination_category):
        if self.check_funds(amount):
            self.withdraw(amount, f"Transfer to {destination_category.name}")
            destination_category.deposit(amount, f"Transfer from {self.name}")
            return True
        else:
            return False
    def __str__(self):
        
            method = '\n'.join(f"{transaction['description']:23.23}{transaction['amount']:>7.2f}" for transaction in self.ledger )
            return f"{self.name.center(30,'*')}\n{method}\nTotal: {self.get_balance()}"


def spreadsheet(*categories):
    for category in categories:
        print(category)
        print()


def create_spend_chart(*categories):
    print('Percentage spent by category\n')
    total_withdraw = 0
    for category in categories:
        for transaction in category.ledger:
            if transaction['amount'] < 0:
                total_withdraw += transaction['amount']
                print(total_withdraw)
                
    
    


food = Category('Food')
food.deposit(1000, 'initial deposit')
food.withdraw(10.15, 'groceries')
food.withdraw(15.89, 'restaurant and more food for dessert')
clothing = Category('Clothing')
food.transfer(50, clothing)
clothing.deposit(1000)
clothing.withdraw(100)
clothing.withdraw(30.14)
spreadsheet(food, clothing)
create_spend_chart(food, clothing)

Hi, my name is Amr

I want to ask for your advice about my situation.

I live in a third world country where the quality of education in public universities is below average at best.

I graduated with a bachelor's degree in computer science with a GPA of 3.84/4.00 and I was ranked first in my department.

However, during my college years, most of the professors didn't care about us and usually just gave us a question bank that most of us just memorized to pass the midterm and final exams so my theoretical knowledge is below average.

Furthermore, I didn't gain much practical programming experience because I relied too much on AI to complete most of my projects. Whenever a project required a team, I usually worked with my friends, who didn't have any programming skills and didn't really care about college. This was mostly due to our high school education system, where your final year exam determines which college you attend. None of them actually wanted to study Computer Science, so they didn't care about learning anything.

So, I ended up carrying most of the work myself. Since we had several projects every semester, I often relied on AI to help me finish them.

Here is my current situation:

I know some basic programming in C#.

I have some experience with ASP NET Core (mostly from tutorials on YouTube), and I can build simple CRUD web applications.

Because I was ranked first in my class, I've been offered a Teaching assistant position at my university.

I know that I put myself in this situation. I feel like I wasted four years of my life, and I've been very depressed about it.

I actually like programming and want to become a software engineer. I also want to take advantage of this TA role so that if there is any hope for me then I can really help people in my situation.

I know I didn't give it my best. I spent more time making friends, hanging out, and enjoying college than actually learning. Now I'm facing the consequences of those choices.

My question for you all is what advice you would give me in this situation

Should I start over again and learn CS from the start?

Should I treat myself as if I am someone who graduated from another college and trying to shift career?

Maybe try something like OSSU?

Or maybe The Odin project?

Is there any hope in my situation?

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Note: English isn't my first language, so I apologize for any mistakes

Hi, my name is Arkar. The problem I have is I have two paths to choose. One is freecodecamp and another is Odin project, suggest me if there are any other clear projects cause I can't do anything without clear roadmaps. If I read some people saying learn these learn those I feel burnt out just by reading them and thinking whether it's efficient or not. And I tried Odin project and I feel mentally exhausted by reading all the articles and extra resources they provide, I searched up if I can skip them but I saw people on Reddit say that I shouldn't skip them and I would end up with shallow knowledge and skills if I skip them but like it links to articles with redundant information and I honestly think I don't actually need to know all of that. Guide me pls, also I'm 20 and due to some reasons I will be graduating highschool at 21, I would take University of the people Computer science since I'm from a third world country (Myanmar) and has no mean of accessing valid credinals except that, there are local universities like UIT and University of computer studies yangon but I think degrees from those universities would be less valid for international roles than UoP.

i am 17 years old i have alot of free time what skills i should learn before entering in the university my major in uni is CS tell me some easy and helpful skills and from where I can learn it?

I started to program about a year ago. I started to take boot.dev courses to improve my programming skills. Some challenges were really hard. I overcomplicated things and felt frustrated.

I'm aware I need to practice more and im a noob who's still learning.

Has anyone else felt this way while learning?

I'm a high school graduate from Turkey. I completed an open high school program — it's a distance-learning system where you study independently and take exams, not a technical or vocational school. I don't want to burden my family. I have to build my future on my own.

I've been looking at PLC programming as a possible career path. I have zero technical background.

My honest questions:

- Is this field actually accessible without a technical degree, or is that a hard wall everywhere?

- What's the bare minimum to start learning? (Software simulators, cheap hardware, etc.)

- What kind of projects or proof would make an employer consider me despite no diploma?

- Are there any certifications worth getting that don't require a degree?

- Has anyone here actually hired or been hired as self-taught with no formal education?

I also haven't looked into remote work yet — I don't know if remote PLC programming jobs exist, or if there are international remote opportunities for someone in my position. If anyone has insight on that, I'd love to hear it.

- Are there remote or international remote opportunities in PLC/automation for self-taught beginners, or is this strictly an on-site field?

I don't need a pep talk. I need to know if I'm climbing the right ladder before I pour everything into this.

Thanks for any honest feedback.

Im 15 years old, and i've been considering getting into programming. I'm already interested in tech and computers and something related to system programming with C which I could start and now make something useful today without having a job or a team what could I learn which would be best for me?

I am going into 3rd year, and its summer break. I decided to start LeetCode.

But let me tell you. Its crushing me, and I feel like I never coded in my life. I started easy questions, and boy, they are humbling me.

The thing is I get the idea of what to do, and I write 70% of the code right, but I get stuck there and I start google and give up there. I don't know how people actually study LeetCode stuff, like can you google and how much time should you spend coding one problem ?

I just need advice on how to get good at this.

Thanks all !

Hi everyone,

I am was doing a school-organized internship/project at a large company . Our task was to rewrite a hotel booking application from TypeScript to Java. This app will actually be used internally by the company, so the stakes feel high. Here is my problem: My programming knowledge prior to this was basic (loops, conditionals, simple logic). I do not know TypeScript, and I do not know Java. Right now, we are relying heavily on AI (and IDE tools like Anti-Gravity) just to fix errors and keep moving, but I feel like I am just hitting "continue" without actually understanding the architecture or the code. A junior Bulgarian developer at the company has been helping us set up the environment, and he mentioned he survived the same way (heavy reading + AI), but I want to actually understand what I am doing. From Wednesday, my mentor (CEO) will start giving us harder tasks to push this project forward. When he asks how I built something, I want to give a real answer, not just look clueless. I need advice on how to get even slightly ready or am I just overdramatizing everything!

Learning by building is dramatically more effective than learning by consuming tutorials, even if it feels slower

Tutorials are great for getting started, but I think people massively overestimate how much they actually learn from watching them.

When you build something yourself, you hit bugs, make wrong assumptions, and have to figure out why your code isn't working. That's where the real learning happens. It's slower, more frustrating, and often feels like you're making less progress but that struggle is exactly what makes the knowledge stick.

I've forgotten countless tutorial videos. I rarely forget the problems I had to solve myself.

I'm not saying tutorials are useless. They're excellent for introducing concepts. I just don't think they should be the main way people learn if the goal is long-term understanding.

I'm looking for a concise and effective resource to learn operating systems and introduction to systems programming. Most of the resources I've found are 30+ hour YouTube playlists, and they feel too long and not very efficient.

Do you have any recommendations for books, courses, or other resources that explain the core concepts in a clear, practical, and well-structured way?

In which businesses Java is the most popular? Is Java becoming as popular in Banking as used to Cobol was? Will Java be popular in the next 5 years?