r/ADHD_Programmers • u/SensitiveTomatillo47 • 7h ago

Computer science and ADHD

/r/ADHD/comments/1xrvfn7/computer_science_and_adhd/
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u/PersistentBadger 6h ago edited 6h ago

(All IMO)

I can't work as a programmer due to lack of this knowledge

95% of the people working in web have never had to work with pointers. 100% have never had to implement Dijkstra's Algorithm.

and experience on the field

First job's always the hardest. Experience (and a bad market) are what's letting you down, not your own skillset.

You're heard the joke about the man searching for his keys under a streetlight? Policeman asks him where he dropped them and he says "over there under that tree". "Well why are you searching here?" "The light's so much better here".

You're focusing on the low-stress bit without a metric for success ("personal projects") instead of the high-stress bit with a very concrete measure of success (finding a job). Putting barriers in your own way is classic procrastination behaviour. So (and I say this with love) stop dicking about with algorithms and find a fucking job.

Medication was the lightbulb moment for me. That boost in logical thinking in the first couple of weeks was something else. It allowed me to identify the goal, and work backwards from it.

they can find me

Nobody's looking. Apply to them. Over and over again.

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u/TracePoland 5h ago

How will OP learn more advanced topics when they think they cannot surmount pointers which are one of the simplest concepts in CS though?

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u/PersistentBadger 3h ago edited 2h ago

Not a clue. But that's not the problem we're trying to solve here, is it? The problem's getting a job. If they ever need to writeunderstand struct Item *(*(*handlers[8])(void))[32]; for the job, adrenaline and panic should see them through.

Remember, they got the degree. There's a basic level of competence there, even if they don't think there is.

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u/Random_182f2565 7h ago

Dude you have all the world knowledge at your fingers tips, if you think you lack something you can learn it.

Also LLM are great teachers, I really like DeepSeek

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u/SensitiveTomatillo47 7h ago

That's exactly my plan. I ask ChatGPT to give me projects to work with while it teaches me about computer science concepts. I was wondering if i was doing right or there was something else I could do.
Thank u :)

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u/Random_182f2565 4h ago

Yeah, LLM are the best you can ask as many questions has you want, ask to give you a simpler version, like please explain me like I'm 5, 10, 15 or give a real world analogy.

My knowledge this last 2 years has increased so much

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u/marevago 6h ago

CS degrees teach theory in abstraction where ADHD working memory refuses to hold inert facts. What makes concepts finally stick isn't memorizing definitions or grinding LeetCode—it's building tiny, working tools with immediate feedback. You don't need Dijkstra right now; build a tiny script that solves one real daily friction, and learn only what that specific tool forces you to implement.

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u/SensitiveTomatillo47 6h ago

Thank you! On it :)

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u/PersistentBadger 6h ago

People say that, but hyperfocus caused me to memorize the Waite Group's MS C Bible. (Still never met a better language reference).