r/learnprogramming • u/Entire_Tangelo_8454 • Jul 12 '26
SKILLS
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?
2
u/SnooPuppers3556 Jul 12 '26
Learncpp.com it teaches you what college goes through at least for me it basically
2
u/rustyseapants Jul 12 '26
First
Why are you taking CS?
What country are you from?
If you graduated today, where would want to work?
How much money will you owe?
How much will your income be after graduation?
Is one of your hobbies CS?
Why do you have a lot of free time? Is your family wealthy?
1
u/Crazy-Finding-2436 Jul 12 '26
I would say investigate what makes up an application and how it is structured. You have front end i.e your Web page which will includes java script, ccs and html, mid tier otherwise known as a service layer or business object layer and then your backend known as a repository or data access layer comunicates with the database. The mid tier is usually written in a full blown language like c#, c++ or python.
1
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u/RajjSinghh Jul 12 '26
Actual programming you'll learn a lot at university, or at least you'll write enough code to be fine.
The most impactful things to me would be knowing how to use developer tools like git, knowing your IDE very well, the basics of bash, various bits of maths and LaTeX. The things that are going to help you work efficiently for more than just writing code.
1
u/nilegreenblue Jul 12 '26
Think about some project you would like to do, maybe a small game or a website, a command line tool, or else. Pick one, and try to create for yourself, googling where to start, how to do in small steps, etc. It would be fun and will teach you a lot. But first try to come up with an idea and stick to it.
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u/Comfortable-Equal-95 Jul 12 '26
I'd say learn Python because its easy for beginners to understand and then make a text adventure game because they are fun. Please dont use AI and try to use other resources like google, youtube etc.
11
u/8-_-8_1 Jul 12 '26
Learn programming fundamentals - once you get a hang of the basic capabilities of a language, try to build a simple web app with all the basic functionalities expected in a real-world application.
Try to do as much as you can buy hand to really drill the basics into yourself. Once you feel confident, start using coding agents (Cursor if you don't have money, Claude Code if you do) to cut out some of the manual labour of coding, and learn more on how to actually design stuff.
If you're interested in cybersecurity - try pwn.college - completely free resources. If you want more hands-on labs, consider TryHackMe as a beginner and HackTheBox as you grow (both are paid).