How do I learn programming?

[shivajikobardan]

For eg: Currently I am trying to learn bash shell scripting, text processing using bash etc. But the problem is I don't think I can learn it. Why? Because I don't know programming. In particular, problem solving. I don't know problem solving at all. I try my best but I fail. In the past, I tried learning MERN web development for around 1 year but failed to do so.
So, I am wondering how do I learn programming? Particularly, bash shell scripting. I don't need roadmap but way to learn problem solving.

 

[Benji_w]

26 minutes ago, shivajikobardan said:

For eg: Currently I am trying to learn bash shell scripting, text processing using bash etc. But the problem is I don't think I can learn it. Why? Because I don't know programming. In particular, problem solving. I don't know problem solving at all. I try my best but I fail. In the past, I tried learning MERN web development for around 1 year but failed to do so.
So, I am wondering how do I learn programming? Particularly, bash shell scripting. I don't need roadmap but way to learn problem solving.

 

I'm currently planning on learning to code too. I have seen quite a few sites that let you learn like Udemy, CodeAcademy etc, have you looked into these? Are there any schools in your area that offer programming courses?

[Eigenvektor]

The best way to learn problem solving is to solve problems. Find a task you want to automate with a shell script, then Google search your way to a solution. Try to understand why the solution works/doesn't work, then work on improving it. Otherwise, there's a ton of online resources to get you started on programming.

[shivajikobardan]

the problem with google searching is I'm mostly copying pasting from stackoverflow w/o being able to create that from myself from scratch.

[Benji_w]

2 minutes ago, shivajikobardan said:

the problem with google searching is I'm mostly copying pasting from stackoverflow w/o being able to create that from myself from scratch.

Try to understand what it is you're copying, break down the code into bitesize peices that make sense and then work out why its working.

[shivajikobardan]

that's exactly where my problem lies. the stuffs available in  SO and tuts are too advanced  for me to understand no matter how hard I try to break them.

[Benji_w]

2 minutes ago, shivajikobardan said:

that's exactly where my problem lies. the stuffs available in  SO and tuts are too advanced  for me to understand no matter how hard I try to break them.

Ok so what language does Bash Shell use?

[LukesterFire]

To me, problem solving is less a skill and more of an attitude of persistence. How determined are you to solve the problem? How effectively are you using the resources available to you? Be that online resources, or people in your life that know more than you. Asking for help can be part of problem solving. Posting on a forum asking someone to point you in the right direction of a solution could be considered problem solving. Get used to using whatever resources you have access to. Hopefully this helps and can be a bit encouraging. I firmly believe anyone can be a good problem solver if they want to and are persistent enough

[shivajikobardan]

I've  not started to learn about bash programming yet. But I guess they use those linux commands.

[Benji_w]

Just now, LukesterFire said:

How determined are you to solve the problem? How effectively are you using the resources available to you? Be that online resources, or people in your life that know more than you. Asking for help can be part of problem solving. Posting on a forum asking someone to point you in the right direction of a solution could be considered problem solving. Get used to using whatever resources you have access to. Hopefully this helps and can be a bit encouraging.

Thats a good point to behonest however I disagree with your first point.

 

2 minutes ago, shivajikobardan said:

I've  not started to learn about bash programming yet. But I guess they use those linux commands.

From what I can see on google, Bash is C++ is that correct?

[Eigenvektor]

7 minutes ago, Benji_w said:

From what I can see on google, Bash is C++ is that correct?

No. Bash scripts mostly contain terminal commands and can contain additional shell script commands. No relation to C++ whatsoever. The bash shell itself may be written in C++, but you don't need to know anything about C++ to write shell script.

[Benji_w]

Just now, Eigenvektor said:

No. Bash scripts mostly contain terminal commands and can contain additional shell script commands. No relation to C++ whatsoever. The bash shell itself may be written in C++, but you don't need to know anything about C++ to write shell script.

I was hoping the author would answer that Part of learning is question and understand everything from the ground up, especially when it comes to coding. In order to use PHP you need to understand basic HTML and CSS to get it to work on a website (might be a bad example but thats from my own personal experience).

[Eigenvektor]

4 minutes ago, Benji_w said:

I was hoping the author would answer that Part of learning is question and understand everything from the ground up, especially when it comes to coding. In order to use PHP you need to understand basic HTML and CSS to get it to work on a website (might be a bad example but thats from my own personal experience).

Ah sorry I wasn't sure if you were genuinly asking or not

[Benji_w]

4 minutes ago, Eigenvektor said:

Ah sorry I wasn't sure if you were genuinly asking or not

While at college, our tutors pulled the wool over our eyes. They made us research a topic then with as much possible detail, explain it to our peers so they also could fully understand it. It was such a unique way of teaching it still sticks with me 12 years later. I highly reccomend using this approach to learning.

[LukesterFire]

I've been using Cisco's free online courses to teach myself c++ LINK:: https://www.netacad.com/courses/programming
I even started making a tiktaktoe game in C++ that runs in the command prompt to practice what I learn. 
If you want to practice problem solving find problems (or create problems if you're feeling creative like I was) and solve them. If you fail keep trying until you figure it out and don't forget to take breaks when you need them so you don't burn yourself out

[Guest]

What textbooks did you look at? 

There's probably a library where you can check a textbook on bash out from. Otherwise if you have some money, buying a textbook on bash is a great way to go. 

[_Luke_]

The official Raspberry Pi Press, the Magpi make some books that are available for free download online... They are meant for the Raspberry PI OS but often transferable, they have a book on learning how to use the command line too (Linux) 

[TizzyT566]

I think the best way to learn bash is to be forced to use it. Install any distro on a laptop for instance and just use it. If on windows you can setup WSL2.