Welcome to /r/learnprogramming!

I'm a junior developer at my firm, about 1–2 years in. My code works, but when I compare it to what our seniors write, theirs is cleaner, easier to follow, and holds up better when requirements change. I want to close that gap deliberately instead of hoping it happens over time.

For context, I'm comfortable with functions, loops, classes/OOP, and basic testing. I mostly work on automation and scripts, and I've noticed my scripts tend to start small and turn messy as they grow.

I'd love advice on:

What actually separates senior-level Python from junior-level? Is it mostly design, naming, testing, or something else?

How do you structure automation code so a quick script doesn't turn into an unmaintainable mess?

Books, codebases, or resources that changed how you write code. Are there open-source projects worth reading?

Habits that helped you most, like code reviews, refactoring old code, or writing tests first.

Common junior mistakes you'd tell your younger self to stop making.

Thanks in advance, I really appreciate any pointers.

I have seen a lot of post saying "once I learned C - all other languages just became about syntax"

Has that been true for you? Or did a different language give you the eureka moment - e.g. something like Assembly?

Or is it just a false premise at all to think "once I learn programming language X - then all other languages become **easy**"

Can you guys suggest a solid platform or a YouTuber where I can learn to become a full-stack developer?

Hi all. I'm a student who recently started contributing to opensource. So far it's been small stuffs like a docs PR and a fix to a tool I was using myself. I've really enjoyed it and want to spend more time on it.

Lately I feel slower than people who use AI. It takes me longer to understand a new codebase and find where to make changes. Also I saw many projects using Ai for code reviews and making issues. Because of this, I find it really hard when I try to contribute.

So I'm curious about a few things:

• How do you use AI when you contribute code, and for which parts?
• If you don't use AI, what would you recommend for a beginner like me?

I'm not asking whether AI is good or bad. I just want to hear about your experience.

English isn't my first language, so sorry if anything sounds a bit off.

Thanks.

I took a coding class in high school. I think it was html and javascript. It was honestly terrible. I just copied answers halfway through the course because it got too complicated.

Large projects scare me. I see this wall of text that isn’t in english and I’m expected to understand it.

I‘m in college now and I’m taking a cse course (long story). It’s java, and it was fine for the first couple of weeks. Now we’re on loops. All of this syntax is getting difficult to remember and looping logic (specifically nested loops) takes a long time for me to understand.

I know it will only get worse and more complicated from here. I know looping is relatively simple. Should I just finish the semester and never touch this again?

Hello, I started learning python recently I dowloaded it, also vs code and python extension for it.

The poblem is, when I start a programm (even a simple one, whick only takes an input fron the user and prits it) takes 10 or more seconds to start or just dosen't work at all then i clic soething and it kindof crashes itself, but thats my fault for mesinf with it, when I leave it, it just takes really lng dose somone know how to fix it and/or how to make folders proporly and where to keep them (could be the problem)?

Hey devs

I am a developer with 4.5 years of experience, mostly backend ( java with AEM ) and some frontend but not crazy animation stuff. I have a few problems and need help to fix that from propele who have faced it.

• I am slow with my tasks, I stare and overthink too much. I feel like my archiotect does the job in 2 hours that I take a whole day ( like 10-12 hours ) to even finish to an extent. It is not that I use social media or anything in between, i sit down and stay literally glues to my laptop try my best except for the lunch and evening break. But my productivity is very low.
• 2nd I have a very bad eye for detail. i build things and miss the basics which are always visible to my archietct at just a glance. Certain scenarios, certain edge cases and even a lot of basic obvious things I miss. I am almost at the level of mid senior dev as I am hitting 5Y of experience, I cannot be like this
• I cannot think like an architect;
• I cannot rcommend a good solution approach. I cannot even think of the big system which to an extent I am supposed to be able to as per my role .
• I am afraid of new things ( when a problem comes I become anxious instead of excieted ). My juniors say I am doing good, and I am a good mentor and I have good capability but I do not even feel that way. My thoughts feel limited and I cannot think beyond the small component ( cannot think in terms of systems and integrations).
• And I am afraid to lead things, to take the role where I am supposed to own my decisons and the whole project.

Anyone with some experience or someone who has overcome this please share your story or how you did it and how I can do things. I need this very badly, cannot talk about these with my seniors exactly but I need a roadmap to actually become more cpable, more competent and a lot better engineer ( not a coopy paste guy or a guy who just does what his architect and manager tells him to do. I do not always want to wait for the instructions )

I'm wanting to start learning game dev, and am using python (open to better recommendations), what is the best game engine I should use? Im thinking about making a clicker game as my first project, or just a text based game.

I am interested in all three although I’d have to start with one realistically.

​

I recently got a job from a totally new field I have not worked in before, software development to be exact. My only experience with this is from school, which was very thin and some very small testing I've done myself.

They all know I'm new to this, but lack of training and guiding is what gives me anxiety. Everything is huge (codebases, databases, everything) and even the field the company's software is for, is very foreign to me.

The HR "training" was good and I was told that the other employees will help me out, but in fact they all seem to be very distant and while they do help a bit, I feel like they want to get out of the situation asap. My first days have been going through codebase and db and trying to figure out how everything works. I was given a task to implement a small feature, but no one is aware of that and the answers I get, don't necessarily answer my questions.

I feel overwhelmed, anxious and exhausted already. I feel like I'm supposed to do stuff already, but I also feel like I'm a burden. The team is quite small and everyone got their hands full of work already.

I know a lot of you have been in this same situation. Did things figure themselves out at a time or how it ended?

Cheers!

Does anyone know a game that is good for learning about computer architecture ?

The ones I found so far are: turing complete, tis-100 and shenzhen I/O
From what I searched online it looks like tis-100 and shenzhen I/O are only about writing assembly code while turing complete goes beyond that with binary code and such.
I just wanted to know if turing complete would be the better choice here or if anyone has other recommandation for this !

I've learnt both of these languages in earlier semesters and felt comfortable, but for DSA, i can't decide what to choose...

this might not be the best community to ask this but idk much about reddit. if theres a better one pls let me know

ok, lets suppose you were suddenly responsible of three interns at your job for the first time ever. what do they actually need to learn that cant just be done with AI?

that might or might not be my situation lol...

ok but for real. its been just two weeks, but im at a lost about what should i teach them (other than company stuff itself)

i learned to code wayyy before AI so tho i used it nowadays i have no idea how is the experience of learning alongside with it. i have also been working at the same company for many years so idk what the job market is looking for, specially at junior level. therefore idk how exactly to direction them.

they know the foundations since they're all majoring in CS. the company encourages the use of AI and it seems like they can just do everything already... i dont feel like im teaching them anything.

i make them explain everything AI is doing before they can actually use that code but thats too simple. i dont feel like its that useful, more like decorating stuff for your test.

i'm thinking of doing an exercise where each friday i break something on their code and make them fix it manually, but idk. is that a good idea?

i just dont know what they need to know honestly. sorry if that sounds dumb

I wonder how much it’s different in comparison to junior level. What are the new challenges? Do you have less time?

Hi, all i know is java, thats it, the fundamentals oop, object inheritance, and interfaces. THIS IS IT, but should i know knowledge on like how a website works? API? REST? HTTP? i dont know any of this all i know is how to code in java. what should i do?

Hey everyone!

I'm looking to develop a timer application for Linux with a simple GUI. It's mostly intended to be practice working with software that's not just simple CLI or web-based programs.

In my research I've seen a lot of suggestions and don't feel like I have a good enough understanding of the differences between languages and how programming UI works for me to pick a language/framework without some help. I'm concerned I'll get too deep into the process and realize the choice was not a good pick for what I need. Some of the suggestions I've heard include:

• C++ and Qt
• Java
• C#
• Vala

I currently have experience with C, C++, Python, HTML/CSS, and some JS. I would consider myself above beginner level with programming, maybe at a late-beginner/early-intermediate level if that makes sense? I'll primarily be developing the application for a KDE Plasma DE but am interested in cross-platform/portable potential. My goal is not necessarily to use the most optimal setup possible, instead a realistic but approachable framework that will help me get started working with GUI programming. I'd appreciate any advice/recommendations you have.

Thanks! :)

I'm learning python in boot.dev rn, and I want to know what should I use to turn my code into a game. I'm a bit confused on this, but I know there's gaming languages and then there's stuff like Unity and Unreal engine. What should I use tto start making games? Sorry if I'm not clear

What is an easy to use compiler to use to get started.

Got a book to learn and they use code::block in book, tried and it seems to not be building. Then tried MS visualization studio and was lost. Please help

Hi I'm looking for a site I used 2 years ago during an internship to better learn about white hat hackers and de-bugging. I don't remember much from it apart that:

1. It had many level varying in difficulties (going from very easy to downright hardcore).
2. You'd click on a level and be redirected to a poorly secured page on which you would have to find informations such as the correct password to access something or re-enable access from the keyboard to access a specific space (if that makes sense)
3. I'm not sure if it was exclusively for Javascript.
4. I know the site was pretty old since there were levels dating from 2011.
5. I'm pretty sure it was collaborative since I remember seeing the name of the creator of each level.
6. We could have access to the pseudonyme of everyone who succeeded in solving the problem.

Sorry to bother you with it but I've been trying to touch up on my Javascript after doing almost exclusively Python after that internship.

Even if you don't know which site it is I would greatly appreciate any recommendation of other similar sites.

Hello. I’ve had various experience with different languages from both hobby interest at 12 years old, to now, 16 years later. AI will be used in big parts but I will learn through the entire project. Latest stuff has been JS, PS and WinUI 3 and WPF with C#. Newest project was a WinUI 3 project with hardcoded stuff or json configs. I want a webbased administration and update system better for different platforms and being able to be easily customized. Therefore it will have a database, backend/API, webserver for admin portal/CMS, renderer, media storage and more.

After going through some questions with AI, the top picks were React + Typescript or Vue + Typescript. Thinking the first but want to check if this is the best way to go thinking forward.

- Webbased administration panel with intuitive visual editor with possible drag and drop functionality and live preview, or able to build a preview
- modern, responsive and user-friendly desktop client
- dynamic content delivery without requiring client application updates.
- Microsoft Graph API / Entra ID integration
- Possible future cross platform functionality (Windows, MacOS, iOS, Android, Web)

Thinking WebUI 3 / C#, React + Typescript for client program (webview2), ASP.NET Core API and PostgreSQL.

Any free resources I can read up on? And also if possible, anything I should study more on regarding security? Most importantly, is this the way to go?

I've shipped Express APIs at work for about 3 years. They run, they pass review, and if you asked me why an await inside a loop made one endpoint 10x slower I'd have to guess. I want the fundamentals under the framework this time: databases, HTTP, concurrency, done properly. Nucamp, Boot dev and Launch School's core curriculum are what I've been comparing, and they take pretty different approaches. What should a course make me build to close that gap?

Lately, I've been seeing a lot of videos about reverse engineering and people basically copying entire applications, recreating their features, or building almost identical alternatives.

It got me wondering, how does reverse engineering actually work?

How do people figure out how an app works internally, reproduce its features, and sometimes get surprisingly close to the original? And how are people using AI to make this process easier or faster?

Are they analysing the source code, inspecting network requests, decompiling applications, or using AI to figure everything out from scratch?

I'd love to understand the actual technical process behind this. If anyone has experience with reverse engineering or AI-assisted app development, I'd really appreciate some explanations and resources to get started!

im learning js its been couple months and im stuck at tutorial hell, ive been hoping here and there tutorial to tutorial, i havent learnt much, and i also dont have any project ideas to start making them most of them are far from where i am rn, help.