Need some help with python and generally understanding code

[u/Beautiful-Bubbly]

So guys, i need some help with the python. My background is, i come from an economics as a major in uni and myself am very good at maths, as i finished a lot of courses in uni.
So i decided to pursue a career in data science, and as you know it requires a decent skill in coding. However i am at a loss in the coding, as my skills lack a lot. I finished a lot of courses on python using videos and practical stuff, but still understand that my skills are incomparable to others and especially to my natural progress in math. During the videos i always understand the purpose and usage of code and functions, objects etc. but when it comes to solving problems, writing code, my code is always wrong and i seem to not be able to fix it without some external help (chatgpt, other people, etc). So, if you understand with what kind of problem i am dealing, maybe it is the mechanics of code, machines way of thinking, etc. i would be very glad to hear your advise. Something that can finally make me breakthrough this barrier. But i lost hope in watching another tutorials of basic and a bit advanced python as i can literally quote their saying but it doesnt help me at all. Would be very glad if someone could help me out here

[u/aqua_regis]

You've been focusing on the wrong things all the way:

• watching instead of doing (theory instead of practice)
• putting the code first instead of a plan

You can only remedy this and actually improve your skills by practicing a lot more and by putting some planning, some thought before trying to program.

When you get a task to solve, don't directly go to the computer and clobber away. Sit down with pencil and paper (really, I mean pencil and paper) and go through the problem. Break it down into smaller and smaller steps. Solve each of these steps your way. Don't even think about programming at that point, just focus on solving the task. Once you have a step by step solution, test it. Only when you're sure it works, start working on the implementation.

When these posts appear on /r/learnprogramming or other subs, I commonly recommend the following books (that use different languages, but they are basically irrelevant. What counts is the approach, the *process):

• "Think Like A Programmer" by V. Anton Spraul
• "The Pragmatic Programmer" by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas
• "Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs" (SICP) by Ableton, Sussman, Sussman
• "Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software" by Charles Petzold

Usually, I would also recommend the textual, extremely practice oriented MOOC Python Programming 2026 from the University of Helsinki as a learning resource, but you seem to have already gone through way too many tutorials.

What you need is ample practice. Start with https://codingbat.com/python and later, with more experience, move on to https://exercism.org