Welcome to the Treehouse Community

Want to collaborate on code errors? Have bugs you need feedback on? Looking for an extra set of eyes on your latest project? Get support with fellow developers, designers, and programmers of all backgrounds and skill levels here with the Treehouse Community! While you're at it, check out some resources Treehouse students have shared here.

Looking to learn something new?

Treehouse offers a seven day free trial for new students. Get access to thousands of hours of content and join thousands of Treehouse students and alumni in the community today.

Start your free trial

Python Python Basics (2015) Letter Game App Letter Game Introduction

Jermain Singleton
Jermain Singleton
716 Points

Understanding this code?

I mimicked this code correctly but, my brain at this point would never come close to the logic he used to complete the product. How does one think in this manner?

2 Answers

Dane Parchment
MOD
Dane Parchment
Treehouse Moderator 11,077 Points

Since you seem to be asking a more general question, I will answer generally as well.

Learning to think like a programmer is typically what separates coders from programmers and programmers from software engineers. You see, coding is intrinsically not that difficult, it is just like learning a new language, so once you learn the syntax and keywords, then the ability to code things shouldn't be to hard.

What makes programming difficult is the process of actual ability to logically come up with an idea, break it into smaller parts, and then code those parts into a workable solution.

The only way to get better at this is to well...practice. Since you are a beginner, expecting to just be able to jump in an understand large amounts of code, or even coding a solution from scratch is unrealistic. However, as you get better you will eventually have the knowledge necessary to come up with complete solutions on your own, and you will naturally gain the ability to logically break down problems.

So in short, just keep doing what you are doing, it is only natural that you don't automatically get the hang of it. Just take your time, and do your best to understand the concepts that are being taught. Boring topics like: variables, functions, loops, and conditionals are the basic foundations of programming. So once you master and understand these topics, you will be well on your way to being able to code up applications from the ground up!

Jermain Singleton
Jermain Singleton
716 Points

Thanks you I will practice then. Every time I finish a random piece code will start another task.

I like all programming/scripting languages (maybe except for php), but I can sure tell you I like brackets and ; at the end of each statement. Plus try catch finally, why the heck would you change that? It's like trying to make a wheel a square and saying it's better. Nevertheless, I would agree with the above comments and just keep trying.