r/learnprogramming on Reddit: Wanting to learn how to code, but completely lost.

I was in a very similar position as you, but just know that yes you can do this! Alright, firstly and this is the most important part... Have a goal, I mean something big that would make you really happy to build. Maybe it's a company a sick app/website, whatever it is make sure it's something that is important to you, to help through the hard times. Also keep in mind that this isn't a race, but a marathon. I see a lot of people claiming you can learn fast and while that may happen with some, that is not the norm at all. I highly recommend doing self study, for many reasons but the main one being burnout resistance (if done right). Like I mentioned earlier, this is a marathon. Shit is going suck at first, so take your time but try to be consistent. What I mean is study everyday, which sounds like a lot but it can be as little as 10 mins. The point is to try and build a habit, where you have a bare minimum that you gradually increase as you are comfortable (key word being comfortable). I started at 10 mins a day now my minimum is 2 hours and usually go much higher. So now let's talk about what field I would recommend going into and that would be web development. It's saturated sure, however if I am honest most people applying are weak minded. You are a person that knows what true hard work is, most of these people applying are spoiled people who don't know discipline. So the saturation shouldn't be a problem for you, but with that saturation comes a lot of resources. Web development has sooooooo much content, which will help you grow a lot. However before going into Web Development (which uses JavaScript), I would say you should start off with Python for around a month. The point isn't to stick with Python, but to use it to learn programming fundamentals. Most languages are similar, but the syntax (how it's typed) is different. Python is the most easy to read language, so you can skip passed the bs syntax and learn actual programming. Once you can make functions comfortably and understand variables, then move on to Web Development. From there you need to pick a field, Frontend, Backend and Full Stack. Frontend is everything the user interacts with on a website, Backend is everything that happens outside of the user and Full Stack is both. You will see a lot of people trying to push for Full Stack, don't do it. Start with Frontend, simply because it's what 95% of new hires get put into. Also you need to know Frontend to do Backend and especially Full Stack. Plus if you focus on Frontend you will have much better skills than someone who spreads themselves thin. Once you are learning Frontend you will start with HTML, CSS and JavaScript. After you get those down you will hear a lot about frameworks. They are ways to use a language that completely changes your workflow. You don't have to understand what that fully means, however just trust me on this one. The Frontend framework you should choose is React, simply because of it being so popular. That's a later thing, but a good one to keep in mind. When you are studying, I would recommend a beginner course. There is a lot of good stuff on YouTube and Udemy, just make sure to skim through the video and make sure they actually explain well. One thing to keep in mind when you start off is to be careful about "tutorial hell". It's great to start off with tutorials, however once you have done an in-depth tutorial, move on to code alongs. These are basically videos of people making a somewhat complex site and showing you their reasoning. Once you are done with one, try to make it on your own. Once you have done this 2 or so times make your own projects and learn from there. Wish you the best and good luck. More on reddit.com