Fresh Start

That's a skill that would probably earn itself a title of "problem solving" if nothing else. It seems people don't have a problem when they are reminded about different features of the language while reading or editing code because they know them when they see them, the problem arises when someone tries to make a program for something and don't know how to break it down for the simple features of the language to pull it off or worse: they don't even know what the problem they're trying to solve is!

So the next time you're trying to program something, think to yourself very carefully. What is it that you want your program to do exactly? If you want to make a game, think about what you have to do to make a game. Keep breaking things down until you get to the point where you can use the language to code whatever it is you want to implement.

It's best if you start small. Make something that is simple enough for you to handle but challenging enough so that you actually learn something. If you've never used graphics, make something that requires you to do graphics. Never done motion? Do something that needs motion. But try to choose your projects so that you add on features gradually, not something that requires a magnitude of features and you program only one of them or learn multiple at a time.

I hope that helped !

Thanks! Maybe i was doing things too fast... Now the question is, what language to do? I'm trying to decide between Python and C#. I'm not choosing from which is easier. I'd rather learn what you guys recommend. You guys know more than me. Also, how should i learn? What tutorial? I've searched for the second question, and most tutorials are outdated. Could i still use those?

Choosing the language is a personal choice really. Those two languages, not to mention C, C++, and Java, as well, tend to cover paradigms that are similar so learning one language inevitably leaves you with knowledge that will make picking up the rest a lot faster. That's why it is suggested that you start with an easier language and simply move on to the more hardcore ones later, so you can focus on learning the higher design concepts without having to worry about the corners of your language too much. It's rather hard to say if Python or C# are easier than one another. At this point, it's your preference call. If you can't decide, flip a coin and start studying The languages are well rounded (I actually don't know much about Python but C# seems to be very complete in its features) so you can't go wrong with either. You can learn the features of the language with a tutorial and continue from there, but always remember that ultimately your best teacher will be experience. As I've seen a smart person on this forum say once: "you can't read your way into competency." (I wish I could give him or her credit but I have no idea who said it XD).

Thanks for your help once again. So i don't make the same mistake as last time, how do i keep all i learned in my head? Should i make like mini-projects in between tutorials to apply what i've learned? Also, do you know of any C# tutorials? Does it matter if tutorials are a bit dated?

It's hard for me to say which tutorials are good and which aren't. After programming for a bit with multiple languages, you kind of tend to read more through reference material than you do through tutorials, so while I can put pieces together, you might not be able to XD Frankly, I've never really learned C# (or Python for that matter), but I am thinking about having a go at it.

As far as remembering things, are you struggling to memorize the fundamental features of the language? Things like variables, function declaration/calling, loops, if/else statements, or classes? Or are you talking about the library/API calls like PyGame and all that good stuff? If it's the fundamentals, then you'll have to spend a little bit trying to get yourself accustomed to those. While you learn the language, try creating a program that tests your knowledge. Knowing about loops, variables, and functions, you already have a vast amount of tools in your arsenal to create some games even if they are simple, so try that. Make blackjack or whatever just to get grasps on what you're doing. These are essential for you to know and have at hand, so keep those in mind. If you're trying to learn features provided by a library (generally languages provide some standard libraries and that which comes with C# is huge), then you can't really do anything about memorizing them. What I would suggest is trying to vaguely remember what certain functions do (and that they actually exist) and not worry about the details. It's perfectly fine to have your IDE open while programming and a reference document open underneath to look up the functions you're using. After a while you'll start remembering the functions you use more often and the IDE will probably give you hints on the way anyhow.

Well i remember the basics. The only problem is the more i learn, the more i forget. I think it's more of a problem with working too fast. Well thanks for your help again. I'm going to start searching around for tutorials.