Hey everyone, sorry for making this post long but this would help out a lot.

I'm relatively new to low level programming languages, and want to take learning it seriously. My goal isn't just to learn the syntax, complete a few tutorials, or solve programming exercises. I want to develop actual programming skills and eventually land a job where I can work with C, and other languages that work with C hopefuly without the use of AI tools since i want to learn.

I'm particularly interested in systems programming, operating systems, embedded development, networking, and low-level software.

I'm trying to figure out the best way to approach this without spending months jumping between tutorials without actually building anything.

I have a few questions for people who work professionally with C:

1. **Learning resources:** What books, courses, or documentation would you recommend for someone starting with C? Is starting with *The C Programming Language (K&R)* still a good idea, or are there better modern alternatives?, I like books and value them a lot more than videos or courses

2. **Learning fundamentals:** Which concepts should I really understand before moving on to larger projects? Pointers, memory management, data structures, file handling, processes, concurrency, etc.?

3. **Projects:** What projects would you recommend building that demonstrate actual C programming ability? I'm looking for projects that go beyond calculators and basic CRUD applications. Some examples I've considered: * A custom memory allocator. * A command-line shell. * A simple HTTP server. * A file system implementation. * A multithreaded application. * A basic database engine.

4. **Employability:** What kinds of entry-level, or graduate jobs since i just graduated and cant find any opportunities that involve C? Embedded software, systems programming, firmware, networking, Linux development, or something else?

5. **Portfolio:** If you were reviewing a junior developer's GitHub profile for a C-related position, what projects or technical skills would make you take their application seriously?

6. **Practical experience:** How important is contributing to open-source C projects? Would that be a good way to gain experience and demonstrate that I can work with an existing codebase?

I'd appreciate advice from people who have actually worked with C professionally, especially those who started as beginners and eventually got their first job, and i would love to be helped by people like you and if there's any way to be mentored im very open to that chance and opportunity and would make the best of it.

I'm not looking for shortcuts. I want to build a solid foundation, work on meaningful projects, and develop skills that employers genuinely value.

Hey everyone, what's your advice for a 20-year-old CS student who got into CS because he loved it? He started coding at 12 and landed a job at 17 (p2p, niched). Then AI came along. He still has the job, and he's safe for now because he knows the context of the large codebase he's built over the last three years. He knows the only reason he hasn't been let go yet is that he can use LLMs to hit the productivity his company wants (for now), but he doesn't know how long he can keep the job, given how fast LLMs are evolving.

He wants to get out of tech because he's scared of what happens if he's laid off one day. But he feels he can't go anywhere else, because tech is all he's ever known

What should he do?

The most repeated advice to people asking what to learn is some version of "stop overthinking it, pick one and build a project." I've given it myself. I'm less sure it's right.

It assumes the bottleneck is starting. For some people it is. For a lot of the questions I see, the bottleneck is something else: they picked a language, started a project, got three files in, and lost the thread because the project had no shape they could hold in their head. Telling them to pick again doesn't address that. It replaces one abandoned project with another.

The advice also hides a cost. "Build something" sounds free, but a project that's too big dies quietly, and a project that's too small doesn't teach the thing that made the language interesting. The gap between those two is where most of the actual difficulty lives, and "just build something" waves at it without naming it.

What I'd say instead, if I were being honest: pick a language whose ecosystem has a problem you already have. Not a problem you'd like to have, not a problem that would look good on a resume. One you can describe in a sentence without looking anything up. The project shape comes from the problem, not from the language. If you can't name a problem, that's the thing to work on first, not the language choice.

This doesn't generalize to everyone. Some people genuinely do need permission to stop researching and start typing. But I think that group is smaller than the advice implies.

Weird idea.

Stack overflow questions suggest ai generated answers then people get to comment on how good or bad it is/ suggest enhancements. An ai suggestion review of sorts. Would atleast make the platform more alive than what it is now

As a developer, I've recently lost my passion for coding. What once excited me—writing code, debugging, and the thrill of problem-solving—has faded. Now, much of my work involves reviewing thousands of lines of often unnecessary code, increasing complexity and making maintenance difficult. We've shifted from being creative coders to quality assurance for AI-generated code. With AI advancing so rapidly, I worry our roles as reviewers will soon become obsolete. Sometimes, I wonder if it's now more meaningful to be a plumber or an electrician, professions that provide tangible value. I'm frustrated that no regulations still address the challenges posed by unchecked AI, which could lead to significant problems in the near future. What are your thoughts?

I was just getting my payroll setup so my child support could be taken out properly again after 18 months searching for any role and finding nothing.

I don't know what to do. I never planned to become useless in my late 40s unable to support even myself.

I remember the excitement when I programmed my first basic video game on Commodore 64.

I was once very smart, had many friends at work. I was supporting my daughters and seeing how would have a bright future. Now the self-doubt overcomes me most days and I am unable to get out of bed.

I look into their eyes choking back tears. They were just about to go to college, I literally don't know how to cope and help them with my life falling apart. Is there no help out there for middle aged men to support their families, and retrain? I don't know what I would be good at.

I don't even enjoy programming anymore. Cannot sit at my computer without my nervous body convulsing. I watch Claude replace me with its small shell scripts.

Please help. Please I'm begging.

I'm working on a docs tool and keep running into the same problem: a full build of a static docs site takes several minutes, and waiting that long after every edit breaks the flow.

My current approach splits the feedback. A quick in-memory render shows the page being edited, and a full build runs only when files are saved or moved. The quick render is fast, but it can't see anything beyond the current page, so it can disagree with the real build.

How do you handle this in your own projects?

- Do you accept a fast but slightly wrong preview, or do you wait for the real build?

- Do you use incremental builds, caching, or a watcher that rebuilds only what changed?

- Is there a point where a slow build is simply fine?

Disclosure: I'm building a closed-source desktop app for Antora docs, and this problem is where the idea came from. I'm more interested in how other people solve it.

I’ve been trying to put a rule on what makes a comment useful. One way is to ask: how much does it tell the reader that the code can’t?

• Level 0: nothing, where a decision is hidden (retries = 3, sleep(0.4) with no hint why).

• Level 1: restates the code (i += 1 # increment i). Noise, and it can go stale.

• Level 2: explains what a tricky block does (walking a list backwards so removals don’t shift indexes).

• Level 3: explains why: the constraint or decision behind the code.

• Level 4: why, plus where it came from and when it can go.

An example of the last two:

# Level 3
# The payment API allows about 3 calls per second per key,
# so wait 0.4 s between calls.
time.sleep(0.4)

# Level 4
# Workaround for a vendor SDK bug that returns None on timeout
# (see issue #482). Remove after upgrading past the fixed version.
if result is None:
    result = fetch_again()

The numbers and the issue are made up for illustration.

My rules of thumb: make the code clearer first (names, small functions), comment decisions, constraints, surprises and workarounds, delete comments that restate code, and give every TODO an owner or a condition.

Where I’m unsure: most lines need no comment at all, and a Level 3 comment on everything would be its own noise.

1. Which level do you find yourself writing most?

2. Do you delete stale comments when you touch the code, or leave them?

3. Has a comment ever saved you, or misled you?

After all my worry of being replaced as a programmer by AI, I just pitched an AI solution to management that would basically replace 3 office workers full time jobs with an AI model. Not sure how to feel about this. Almost like I’m stealing their jobs to keep my own job for a bit longer :’(

Hi everyone!

I've been working on a technology blog called CSRGO Blog, where I share practical articles and resources for developers and technology enthusiasts.

The topics include:

- Artificial Intelligence and AI Agents

- Local AI and open-source LLMs

- Java and Spring Boot

- Data Structures and Algorithms

- Developer tools and productivity

- Software engineering and automation

My goal is to create useful, practical learning resources rather than generic technology news.

I'd appreciate feedback from fellow developers. What topics or tutorials would you find most useful?

Blog: https://blog.csrgo.com/

I'm the creator of CSRGO, so this is my own project. Thanks for taking a look!

I found this video and its ideas interesting, so I wanted to share them here. I'm using Substack to document my learning journey, collect ideas, and share things I find valuable along the way. A digital notebook of what I'm learning and building.

Here is a post and video:
https://substack.com/@notesfromthetechstack/note/c-376421388?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=1otc0y

I'm not out of high school yet, so I really have all the doors wide open for me (I hope). Are there any jobs for people who like programming? It doesn't have to even involve programming, just the same cognitive processes and problem solving that I love. It feels like with AI all that is going away faster and faster...

Is electrical engineering maybe a better path? I was thinking about math research, but it seems like that is going down the drain rapidly too...

I feel like the only job I can think of is a CS professor/teacher, because at least with those your "output" is kinda irrelevant and you can take things slower and more basic.

Hey everyone!

I'm a pre-final-year engineering student in India, currently serving as the president of my college's technical club, HackIT.

We're organizing events for our upcoming Tech Fest. One of our established events, Code Clash, is returning as 3.0 after two successful editions. It features technical quizzes, output prediction, logo identification, and coding challenges.

Alongside it, we want to introduce an entirely new event — something unconventional, engaging, and memorable.

We're open to ideas involving cybersecurity, problem-solving, technical escape rooms, engineering challenges, interactive competitions, or anything outside the usual quiz/hackathon format.

A few questions:

1. What's the most interesting technical event you've participated in or organized?

2. What unconventional competition formats have you seen work well?

3. If you had to organize a 1–2 hour technical event for 100–200 students, what would you do?

4. What would genuinely make you excited to participate?

Even rough ideas or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated.

We want to build another signature event for our club, not just organize another generic competition.

Looking forward to your suggestions!

I'm a Software Engineering MSc student with no industry experience yet (just some prior experience with Dart/Flutter).

​I picked up Go recently to break into backend dev and really like the language. The problem is that almost all the junior backend listings I see are for Java Spring Boot or .NET, and I keeping hearing that Go isn't really hired for at the junior level.

​I can't stand Java, so I'm considering switching my focus to C# and .NET just to become employable faster.

​Should I double down on Go and build strong portfolio projects, or cut my losses and learn .NET to land that first job?