Welcome to /r/learnprogramming!

For most (if not all) other escape characters they are escaped using a backslash but for some reason the percent sign is escaped using another percent sign. Why do we do this?

So for some more context, I recently was part of a panel for university computer science students in which the other panelists and I discussed about life after graduation.

During the Q&A portion, one of the students asked all of the panelists “when do I stop learning new things for programming?”

The other panelists and I were completely thrown off by the question, because in a field like computer science you should always at least be willing to learn new techniques and skills throughout your career. I ended up answering the question by saying “It can depend from person to person, but in this career the second you stop learning is the moment you start to fall behind. I plan on continuing to learn new techniques and skills until the day my brain can’t process new information.”

For the other professionals or more experienced people in this subreddit, I’d be curious on your thoughts for this question. I’m not talking down about the person who asked the question by any means, but I think it’s a good talking point for anyone entering the wonderful world of computer science and programming as a whole.

I might be the dumbest person on Earth.

Learning is a real struggle for me, and I can’t work on something until I fully understand it.

Despite that, I want to learn programming, but I honestly have no idea where or how I should start.

I’m currently a Python developer / ML engineering intern. I have a general understanding of Linux, networking, databases, backend systems, Docker/cloud, and distributed systems, but I’m not deeply specialized in any of them yet.

I want to become a much stronger ML engineer and go beyond just learning more Python libraries and frameworks.

Some areas I’m considering going deeper into are:
- Linux and operating systems
- Networking, processes, memory, and filesystems
- C / C++ / Rust / maybe Go
- Distributed systems
- Performance and profiling
- CUDA / GPU programming / Triton
- Building lower-level systems from scratch

But I’m not really looking for another roadmap or a list of topics to learn.
I’m more interested in the process that actually made you a better engineer.

- Did you mainly learn from books and then implement the concepts yourself?
- Did you build projects from scratch - only personal? These might be tricky as code, its patterns wont be validated by someone with senior experience
- Did you read production code or large open-source codebases?
- Did contributing to open source help more than personal projects?
- How did you avoid reinforcing bad patterns when doing projects without much supervision?

I’m especially curious about what worked early in your career.
For example, if learning C, Linux, CUDA, distributed systems, etc. helped you a lot, how did you actually learn it in practice?

I’d love to hear about learning processes or habits that had unusually high ROI.

I know that reading code is a really big part of a developer's job. But I have always had a lot of trouble understand the code of other people.

I am a CS Student and I am currently stuck at a problem.

" How to think of a Project Idea ? "

For the last two years, I have been either asking AI for project ideas or go with preexisting popular ones. I don't directly take the topic AI suggests on first try. I analyze its importance and impact on my portfolio and then go with it. but for me, AI or internet is the first go to option.

Now what is the best way of thinking for a project idea ? Not everything can be put on portfolio. How do people used to get ideas for project before AI ?

I really need help with this because I am just so confused on how to move forward. I can't rely on AI forever.

Hello, I've been burned out for the past 2 months from python. To remedy this i tried to learn Java and for a little while it worked but I'm back to square 1 where I feel lost. I liked how refreshing it felt but it feels like anything i do in either language is so forced. I have 2 years python experience and am still very new to Java

I find that "//" worked well for all my comments thus far, I don't mind if my comments are a bit long. But I am doing C# more often now that I am looking at a codebase and not just my own stuff and private things, and I sometimes see <summary> </summary> in it. Do you use it? What is the proper use of it?

Google gets it confused with HTML haha

Thanks for any knowledge!

I’m learning the basics of Python and I come from a non-technical background. I’m having trouble understanding what the beginning of a loop is saying:

for i in range(5):
print(“hello”)

Edit to clarify: I know what it does, it prints hello multiple times. The part I’m confused about is reading the first line like a sentence in the English language. “For i in range(5)” makes no sense to me.

Specifically I cannot wrap my head around what “for i in range(x)” says in plain English. Can someone say what that piece of code is saying in one sentence? Is it saying something like “loop X variable 5 times”? Or something like “for X variable in a range of 5”? Sorry I’m not making much sense —this is all new to me.

Hi everyone!

I'm trying to build a list of GitHub repos that originally had no AI involvement but at some point started using it. If you know of any, please drop them in the comments.

What counts as "started using AI" for me:

• An AI config file was added
• Commits mention AI tools
• The README mentions AI tools or AI-assisted development

Projects you maintain yourself or open source projects that have publicly discussed their move to AI are also useful.

Thanks :)

I’m currently working through The Odin Project’s Full Stack JavaScript path, and I’d really like to hear from people who have already gone through it.

A few things I’m curious about:

• How long did it take you to complete the Full Stack JavaScript path?
• How many hours per day/week were you studying?
• Did you start applying for jobs or freelancing before finishing the entire curriculum?
• How long did it take before you got your first job, freelance client, or paid project?
• What kind of work did you get first?
• Looking back, what do you wish you had done differently while learning?

I’m especially interested in real experiences and timelines, not necessarily the “ideal” path.

If you completed TOP and went on to get a job or start freelancing, I’d really appreciate hearing how it actually went for you.

I am trying to build game and wanna start building using canvas.
Is it normal to use canvas in react/vite? Any video tutorial please ??

i can't find any tutorial for react/vite with canvas

I've been trying to learn programming after work but honestly some days I'm just too tired to do anything.

I want to stay consistent without forcing myself to study for hours every day. for those of you who work full time and learned programming on the side what did your routine look like?

Did you mostly study after work in the mornings or on weekends?

I’m gonna start my coding journey with c++, because they say it’s a great base for a newbie, like myself. Wish your junior luck guys, I’ll need it. I might ask for help too. I promise to work hard and one day be of use to the community.

​

Hey everyone,

I’m a university student studying BS Artificial Intelligence, and I’m trying to figure out which skills are actually worth learning in 2026.

I don’t want to waste time jumping between random technologies or following every new AI trend. I want to build skills that will still be valuable in the next 3–5 years and can help me get internships, freelance work, or a good job after graduation.

Currently, I’m considering things like:

- Python & programming fundamentals

- AI/ML

- Generative AI & LLMs

- Agentic AI

- Data science

- Web/backend development

- Cloud computing

- Cybersecurity

- Git/GitHub

- Communication & problem-solving

For people already working in tech: what skills would you recommend a university student start learning in 2026?

Also, which skills do you think are overhyped or not worth spending too much time on?

I’d especially appreciate advice from people who have actually hired developers/AI engineers or are working in the industry.

Thanks!

I am currently pursuing a degree in linguistics, but as you may know it isn't the best paid area of work (especially with LLMs now). I love languages, but I want something that is more sustainable. For now my attention is glued to coding, perhaps web or mobile app development. I have some python experience from school. Any suggestions are welcome

Edit: The general sentiment I am getting that this is not a easy area to get in (not as easy as many scammy courses are making it out to be). Thank you all for saving me time!

i have ZERO knowldge in that field, and yes ive seen everyone says its easier to build a rocket ship orbiting around the sun than making an os, quite discouraging lol but i want to at least start from somewhere, maby start with smaller things before making a whole os

My 6th semester is about to start, and right now I’m learning web development. I’ve learned HTML and CSS and can build pretty good UIs. Currently, I’m learning JavaScript through SuperSimpleDev and freeCodeCamp.

But lately, I’ve been questioning whether it’s really worth learning everything from scratch.

Every day, I see a new AI tool that can do something incredible, generate websites, write code, debug problems, and even build entire projects. It honestly makes me a little scared that I’m spending so much time learning things that AI can already do.

I know that I need to learn how to use AI rather than compete with it, and I’m not trying to avoid AI completely. However, I also don’t want to become someone who simply tells AI to build a project without understanding the fundamentals behind it.

That’s where I feel stuck.

Part of me thinks I should focus on building a strong foundation first HTML, CSS, JavaScript, programming fundamentals, etc. and then use AI to speed up my development once I understand what I’m doing.

But another part of me worries that if I spend too much time learning everything traditionally, I’ll fall behind people who are already using AI to build things much faster.

So what do you guys think?

Should I continue learning web development from the fundamentals and gradually integrate AI into my workflow, or should I start relying on AI much earlier while learning along the way?

For someone at my stage, what would be the best way to balance actually understanding web development with taking advantage of AI?

Hi guys, I've been trying to learn how to code for quite some time now. I've been on and off for the last couple months. And everytime I try to pick it up again i stumble myself to be stuck once again at loops. And I get frustrated and I'll be inconsistent again. I just find it hard to surpass the loop part. Can you guys give me tips on how i can increase my logic and problem solving skill. I know practicing is one but I legit need a systematic way to do things so I can feel that im progressing even if its a little. And i generally want to take on backend dev jobs so can you guys give me tips on what i should focus on. It'll help me very much. I want to raise my family to riches. Pls help

Hey all,

As the title suggests, I'm a project manager with about 8 years experience under my belt and a background in defence infrastructure, as such I'm also security cleared.

I'm looking to move into a more Product Manager or IT based role as generally speaking these roles are available fully remotely and my current situation would benefit from this greatly. If you were in my shoes with the knowledge you have, how would you go about upskilling me to perhaps land that first job?

I'm not necessarily interested in become a front, back or full stack dev (yet) but want to get a head start. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Hi there, I'm new to AI development. I have practical experience in programming, but not in this sector. I wanna study AI development for myself, as hobby (I'm interested in learning something new).

Could you suggest me an idea for the small project in this sector?

Remark: I mean building the project that includes AI functionality

for a homework i have to make a flowchart using mainly "do/while" and it has to give me all the twin primes between to given number. lets say i give A=1 and B=5, so the twin primes are 3 and 5. because they are primes between those numbers and have a difference of two. sadly my teacher isnt very good at explaining anything so i have no idea how to do this. i know i have to make sure to ask for A and then to ask for B and that A has to be smaller than B. but after that i dont know what to do, sorry for the trouble. i dont know where to ask

I am trying to learn something low level. I have been learning rust for a little while but C has been recommended to me to learn.

Since I have been learning rust I don’t think adding C would be different enough, so I started looking into assembly.
That lead me to the question of could I gain the benefits of learning assembly by learning web assembly?
The reason I am asking is web assembly is already a topic of interest for me.

I do not mean to upset anyone. Just trying to learn. Thank you for reading.