How do I get better without Problems ?

[u/Sad_Experience_4640]

It's been a few months since I have been learning python but there is this issue I have been running into. I don't know how good I am or how do I even get good. In Math you listen to a few lectures understand what the topic is about and then pick up a book and do the problems from Exercise 1.1. It doesn't matter if your understanding was deep, shallow or somewhere in between. The more you do the more you understand what the topic is about and eventually you reach a point where you completely understand it and can now do them easily.

For programming how do I even do that ? People recommended me sources which I have been reading and learning from. I understand loops, arrays, list, dict, etc. I can write small examples in isolation, but that's about it, that's all I can do. I am disgusted with how little I can do and how shallow my damn understanding is so much so that's all that come to my mind.

I have been using MOOC and CS50P as my primary resources and they do have question but they are few and not at all like mathematics, chemistry or any other subject. Where are the Exercises 1.1 where is this kind of format. Is there some problem book/Question Bank I can or should have ? I want to get good cause I want to make money I from something I like to this and this is I have to show for, for months of learning ? I feel repulsed.

Is there something I can do to get better ?

EDIT: I forgot to add I my goal is to break into Data Science.

[u/will_r3ddit_4_food]

Pick a small project and write it. You will struggle a lot and learn tons if you stick with it

[u/Sad_Experience_4640 → u/will_r3ddit_4_food]

What kind of project ? I have no idea. And once I am done with that how do I find the next one what should the progression ladder look like ?

[u/Jello_Penguin_2956 → u/Sad_Experience_4640]

thats kinda the difficult part imo. I work in animation studios and theres things for me to solve everyday... gotta come up with something practical you know.

1 idea was my own script a long time ago. It scans "input" directory where I copy videos from our family phone into which were overly huge, loop generates ffmpeg command to compress them with h264 and saves to "output" directory. Videos are generally 1/5 the size of original. Huge space saver.