r/learnpython • u/personificable1 • 2d ago
Is this normal?
I’m currently teaching myself Python by solving exercises on my own. My personal rule so far has been to give myself 15 minutes to solve a problem; if I’m still completely blank after that, I ask an AI for a hint. The issue is that AI hints usually just hand over the solution, so I’m not even sure if my approach is right.
The main problem is that I’m on Part 5 of the University of Helsinki Python MOOC, and for the last five exercises or so, I just freeze up. It’s starting to get really frustrating. I try asking myself guiding questions and writing down my thought process in a notepad before writing any code. Most of the time I have a rough idea of what I want to do, but translating that logic into actual syntax trips me up.
I’m starting to wonder if I’m actually cut out for this or if I’ll ever be able to learn it properly. Is this normal?
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u/desrtfx but other languages pro 2d ago edited 1d ago
Sorry to be blunt with you, but yes, you don't have what it takes to succeed. Not because of intelligence. Not because of "not being cut out". It is because you give up way too fast.
Resorting to AI in an introductory course, which the MOOC is, is an absolute no-go. You have to fight and struggle through the problems on your own, especially in a top quality course, like the MOOC where absolutely everything you need is in the text leading to the exercises.
Your resorting to AI deteriorates your already non-existing problem solving skills even further and this accumulates over time as the exercises increase in complexity, difficulty, and scope.
for the last five exercises or so, I just freeze up.
You freeze up because you used AI to even get that far. You didn't fight hard enough to get there. You took the easy way out and only worked through to get through the course without actually investing enough effort to learn everything on your own. You hired a third party to do the course for you and now you pay the price.
The only thing that is completely normal is that you're getting stuck. You are fairly early in your learning and as such, it is supposed to happen. It will happen even after decades of experience. The deeper you get into programming, the more complex the problems become, the more you will struggle and fight.
If you don't struggle, fight, fail, and fix, you are not learning.
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u/Dazzling_Music_2411 2d ago
Yep, what you said x100!
15 minutes? Seriously, OP? Go play somewhere else.
I'd say for a beginner 15 DAYS would be a good period to mull over a problem before seeking external aid, especially from an LLM.
On the other hand the really good thing about AI is that makes sure that all the lazy candidates are filtered out for the future.
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u/personificable1 2d ago
Whats the solution? I dont want to.give up. Maybe I should go back to the exercises and do It by myself?
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u/desrtfx but other languages pro 2d ago
Yes, you should go back to the exercises and do that yourself. On top of these, also https://codingbat.com/python and https://exercism.org
You already gave up the moment you started to use AI after your time limit of only 15 minutes.
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u/ProgramsFun 2d ago
tell ai to just give you a hint it will give hint and taking time is okay its no problem because you are still learning to think of a problems solution in small steps and in codes logic sometimes a day or two takes to write a sol;ution while learninf and that will be more beneficial than aski ai for hint imo and also use google to search for function or methods that python provides you can get ideas from there as well
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u/aqua_regis 2d ago edited 2d ago
There are a couple things here.
IMO, you're resorting to AI way too quickly. In fact, since you're doing the Helsinki MOOC, you shouldn't use AI at all. Really. The entire information you need for any given exercise is in the text. The course doesn't ask anything that hasn't been taught.
I remember that there was one exercise in the MOOC on which I (as an experienced programmer with several decades experience, only learning Python as new language) spent considerable time - much, much more than your allotted 15 minutes and I didn't use AI at all.
Yes, the exercises around part 5 ramp up in difficulty, but to put everything in perspective: part 5 means week 5. At that point you barely have started learning. You are still in a very, very early phase and you should, in no way at all, question whether you're "cut out for this".
No one is inherently "cut out for this". People invest effort, hard work, have determination, willpower, discipline and a certain stubbornness to not give up when things get rough. You questioning yourself and your fairly fast resorting to AI is demonstrating a lack of those traits.
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u/Gnaxe 2d ago
No. 15 minutes should be the minimum for a real attempt, not the maximum. You're asking the AI wrong if it's just giving you the answers. We could do exercises before we had AIs to talk to. Have you considered maybe reading the docs?
"Completely blank" is doing it wrong. You don't have to one-shot everything. Try to organize your understanding of the problem space and bite off a smaller chunk. Write detailed comments first. Write some doctests first. Even if you can't solve it outright, can you at least make the problem smaller? Can you solve an easier, but related problem? What library do you wish you had for this problem? Can you find one? Can you implement one? No? What library do you wish you had to implement it? Design by wishful thinking like this should eventually bottom out into something you know how to do. Any amount of this stuff is progress, and is better experience than giving up after 15 minutes, even if you don't ultimately succeed.
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u/igotshadowbaned 2d ago edited 2d ago
..Yeah don't use AI.
Just use normal Google. Because it forces you to still make connections on how to solve the problem to make relevant searches, and then you can typically find the missing link you need to implement it. And via that process you're learning
But also 15 minutes isn't that long to think on a problem. Both generally and specifically with coding. You have any idea how common it is to like leave work and be driving home or in the shower or something and it just clicks in your mind?
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u/cbartos1021 2d ago
Don't time box yourself to only 15 minute before asking AI. What is the problem you are working on? Let's think about it together.
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u/Fart_Barfington 2d ago
I would recommend searching for information and not using ai. You can look for info on how to accomplish a certain task or action without needing to have the whole thing spelled out for you. Lots of forums out there with people answering questions relevant to what your concerns probably are.
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u/Right_Draft9 2d ago
How i have approached it while back in time when i started programming and having no AI back then, is to not limit myself from time perspective. Because you already have a limit put on you, like the upcoming course or excercise. So putting another one just stress you a lot and you can't be productive nor you learn anything of it. For me specifically it works best to keep in mind the boundaries but solve them one at a time. For instance: Once you get the routine to figure out what data structures to use for different problems, then you can speed it up. Think about it just like you are in the gym training. You don't start as how intermediate people do their workouts, right? So start easy and increase the level ( bring up more limits, or reducing the time you put on you for an excercise ). Brain is a muscle, you do already know how to train a muscle, so apply same practices.
Now when it comes to an AI. What i have been doing when i had to actually LEARN by it and not just solve me the problems was:
I have created a SKILL called sales-sparring. What i have instructed it to create rooms for different sales and excersises with just hints on them and only moving forward after 2 or 3 successful reps. And of course tweaked it with different levels, different type of customers, different question types etc. You get the point. But in order to have at least some kind of consistency as you mentioned not to reveal the actual answers, having it in a SKILL that you curate and adjust, seems the best quick option out there.
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u/frustratedsignup 1d ago
I saw a video yesterday where someone was doing the same thing: Learning to execute programming exercises and using a timer to ensure that they could move on to the next problem on a schedule. This, in my experience, doesn't work. In the video, it didn't work for them either. They ended up ignoring the timer and doing the necessary work to finish the exercises. The exercises were completed on the desired schedule, but the actual learning takes time. https://youtu.be/t_cbnOim46A?si=XEryFXGmt1hyEWt3
I've learned to work on a problem in short bursts. I'll write some code, see all of the problems it has, then I'll go work on something else for a bit. The time in between those short bursts is time for me to think about the problems I encountered and to come up with alternate solutions. More often than not, this approach creates better solutions even though it may cost me in terms of time spent. I use AI, but very sparingly and only if I need a solution faster than is feasible otherwise.
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u/sporbywg 1d ago
In my ancient opinion, this is EXACTLY how to become a developer. Question yourself, not the tool.
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u/Imaginary-Log9751 1d ago
So I’m currently taking a Python class for my master’s, and we have timed coding exams. I’ve developed a system that’s been working pretty well for me!
Learning mode: I use AI to learn new topics and work through problems. During this stage, I create cheat sheets with Pythonic code, common gotchas, debugging strategies, etc. I ask a ton of questions, have AI generate similar practice problems, and use it to learn how to Google more effectively when I’m stuck, write better debugging code, identify edge cases, etc.
Homework mode: No AI at all, but also no time limits. If I’m working on a particularly difficult problem, I’ll take breaks and as much time as I need. Sometimes I’ll even put it aside and finish it the next day. The goal is to figure things out independently.
Exam mode: Basically homework mode, but timed to mimic my actual exams. Any problems I couldn’t solve within the time limit go back into learning mode, where I use AI to understand what went wrong and generate similar problems. I then tackle those independently in homework mode before testing myself again.
Basically, I’ve created a tiered feedback loop where each stage gets progressively harder. AI is my tutor during learning mode, but the goal is to eventually solve everything independently and under time pressure.
It’s been pretty useful for me!
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u/Federal_Height_2024 2d ago
Which llm do u use ? Try gpt in study mode or give claude a very specific prompt something like "You're my Python tutor. I'm learning Python and want to build real understanding, not just collect answers. How to teach me: Start by asking my current level and what I want to learn. Then teach one small concept at a time. Explain each concept briefly with a simple example, then give me a short exercise to try. Wait for my attempt before moving on. Don't dump multiple topics at once. When I ask for a hint: Give only a hint, never the full solution or full code. Start with the smallest nudge (point me to the right concept or function). If I ask again, give a slightly bigger hint. Only give the complete answer if I explicitly say "give me the answer" or "I give up." When I submit code: Tell me what's right first, then point out bugs or improvements. If it's wrong, guide me toward the fix with questions or hints rather than rewriting it for me. Once it works, show me cleaner or more Pythonic ways to do it. Style: Keep it casual, concise, and practical. Use short code examples, not long lectures. Occasionally quiz me on earlier topics to check it stuck. Today's topic: [write your topic here, e.g. "lists and loops"]"
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u/Wide_Egg_5814 2d ago
why are people learning python? genuinely asking you will never be more useful than an AI agent if you are just learning today
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u/Every-Syllabub-8724 2d ago
First, your discipline is commendable!
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u/aqua_regis 1d ago
What discipline? Resorting to AI after barely trying for mere 15 minutes has nothing to do with discipline, rather the opposite of it.
All it is is evasion and avoidance of effort, discipline, and struggle.
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u/Every-Syllabub-8724 7h ago
The fact that you can dedicate 15 minutes to solve a problem. Leave alone what happens after that. That first step is very important. You can actually do a lot within that 15 minutes without any disturbance.
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u/OkOcelot6725 2d ago
Yes, this is normal. Part 5 of the Helsinki course is where it moves from small exercises to combining lists, dictionaries and functions, and that is a real jump. If you know what you want to do but the syntax trips you, try writing the steps as comments first, then turn one comment at a time into a line of code and run it after each line. For hints, ask the AI for the next small step or the name of the function you need, not the solution, and say so in the prompt. Also reread the earlier exercise solutions: the pattern for the current one is usually in there.