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General Discussion

Posted by Linus Karlsson
Linus Karlsson
7,402 Points

How to find solutions yourself?

Hi all,

This is a general question.

Previously when I have tried to make real the app that I really want to build I have noticed that my coding experience is too low to make it a reality, and instead I have tried to learn through the tutorials here and elsewhere on the internet.

As of one and a half weeks with my first “all by myself” app I am learning that the step from tutorials (where you basically write precisely what the instructor writes and think to yourself “Yeah, I understand this!”) to actually putting code together from scratch is massive.

I cannot even manage to put the most basic things together by myself, and I am wondering if anybody has any similar experiences? What do you do when you cannot follow direct instructions from someone, but have to use a lot of complex documentation, Stack Overflow explanations, etc?

I am really not thinking of giving up coding all together, but frankly it is so f**king frustrating, and it also wears down your self esteem to feel like you never get anywhere.

Can anybody give advise on what to do when you feel stuck? When the smallest tasks becomes overwhelming? On how to go from newbie to get a deeper understanding of how code is put together?

Thank you so much!

3 Answers

Balazs Peak
Balazs Peak
46,160 Points
Balazs Peak
Balazs Peak
46,160 Points

This is very common phenomenon. The whole software industry is just folding out yet. We have no settled science of doing stuff, everything is changing, and often is getting more complex, not less, but all of this is happening in order to make everything better. After the industry reaches peak performance, it will be more concerned with reaching peak simplicity :D

I have ~5 years of experience in learning, teaching and working in this industry, I can help you as a mentor and point out your next step. If you think this could be useful contact me on facebook. I'll help you for free, with any questions you have. If you have a more complex vision about cooperation and you are willing to pay for it in order to make the whole thing more dedicated, we'll might be also able to negotiate about that, but I don't think it's necessary. At the beginning, you'll learn the most with discovering mostly yourself and drop in 1-2 questions if you are stuck.

Linus Karlsson
Linus Karlsson
7,402 Points

Thank you so much for the offer and the response, man! I added you on Facebook just recently. You never know how things turn ;)

Balazs Peak
Balazs Peak
46,160 Points
Balazs Peak
Balazs Peak
46,160 Points

You are most welcome. Feel free to contact me if something comes up.

stjarnan
seal-mask
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree seal-36
stjarnan
Front End Web Development Techdegree Graduate 56,488 Points
stjarnan
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree seal-36
stjarnan
Front End Web Development Techdegree Graduate 56,488 Points

Hi Linus, I recommend that you keep learning like you do but work hard on applying your skills on mini-projects, and then go bigger as you start to feel comfortable. It's frustrating, you're gonna get stuck over and over but that's one of the best ways to learn.

I started here at Treehouse back in 2014, I learned a lot but never felt ready to create my own things. So I ended up doing a Techdegree. The Techdegree have you create your own projects, projects you will get reviews on. You get access to Slack channels where students and staff members will help you. I really recommend these programs as they will get you ready for a job in a streamlined way.

No matter which route you take, learn to love the struggle!

I hope that helps, feel free to ask if you feel that I gave you even more questions.

Jonas

Linus Karlsson
Linus Karlsson
7,402 Points

It's not a bad idea, although I'm trying to keep costs down at the moment. For many reasons.

Can you sit anywhere in the world during a Tech Degree?

Linus Karlsson
Linus Karlsson
7,402 Points
Linus Karlsson
Linus Karlsson
7,402 Points

Thanks, you guys! It's easy for me to second doubt myself and as I'm mostly working from home I don't really have any interaction with other coders to watch and learn from basically.

One of the most important things I will take from this is that I suppose I'm not alone in feeling this way. It makes me feel a little bit at ease to know that other people have been, and still to some level still are struggling.

It helps a lot to hear that you are sopposed to love that kind of struggle!

stjarnan
seal-mask
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree seal-36
stjarnan
Front End Web Development Techdegree Graduate 56,488 Points
stjarnan
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree seal-36
stjarnan
Front End Web Development Techdegree Graduate 56,488 Points

Hi again Linus,

Yes, you can sit anywhere in the world during a Techdegree. But as you told us you try to keep your costs down, I want to let you know that you can definitely make it using the Basic plan as well! :) Just try to create projects applying what the courses teach you. You might feel that your projects end up being really bad but that's ok when you're starting out. You will learn a lot and things will start to stick!

I work for a big tech company in Sweden, I and my colleagues get stuck all the time. But that's part of the charm, hitting a wall and then trying to find a way under, over or through it!

You can do this!

Jonas

Linus Karlsson
Linus Karlsson
7,402 Points

Tusen tack, Jonas =) I'm definitely not giving up at all! Not even close.

The thing is that in tutorials, either here on Treehouse or elsewhere, the theoretical exercises are often quite simplified. To me there has been a big difference between practicing things such as: 

let myConstant = "Linus"

and then go onto Xcode where it's more like: 

@IBAction func button(_ sender: UIButton) {
        print("Linus")
    }

I know I'm comparing a constant and a function here, but I hope you get my point? These two examples are major leaps for me, then again I suppose it's the same for everyone.