First difficulties in learning programming

I studied Python development in an online course, but not as a student — as a beta-tester. I had a prepared curriculum, useful summary notes, and also videos of experienced developers solving the homework. But I didn’t have access to teachers or methodists, so I got no help when I got stuck.

Most of the time, I felt that it was good. I learned to recognize a lot of typical mistakes and quickly fix them, properly google things and be patient with the process. Also, I realized that I had a lot of friends who work as developers, and I started reaching out to them. They helped me a lot throughout my journey.

But even like that, eventually, I got ultimately stuck on a problem: a SQL query.

Python was one realm, where things, on a surface level, were relatively straightforward and easy to understand. SQL was an entirely different world with its own rules, a lot of them not so obvious at first glance. It even made me doubt myself again — what if now the real programming started, and I am once again too dumb for it?

I tried to solve the query multiple times. At that time, I got used that if I tried hard enough, I got things done at the end of the day. But this time I couldn’t, and the absence of a happy ending maximized the frustration. Eventually, the thought of trying again became painful. I stopped.

I didn’t have a suitable picture for this post so here’s one by Midjourney: me in the database dimension

Retrospectively, I understand that I also was exhausted from studying 24/7. So I took some rest and when I finally gained the strength to ask one of my friends for help, he said this:

“I struggle with it too. You need to practice more basic queries to write it properly. Better concentrate on learning Python. If you dive deep into SQL now instead, you will create a mess in your head. Queries are significantly simplified in Python frameworks anyway, you’ll see.”

I took his advice, skipped the problem, and went on to the next lesson — it was exactly about those frameworks and it was not as hard at all. He was absolutely right! I immediately felt better and continued studying. I never stopped for such a long time again.

By the end of the course, I got used to working with databases, their structure and field relations through object-relational mapping. I decided it was time to tie up loose ends and try one more time to figure out what happens under the surface. So I signed up for an online SQL course. This time, I managed to figure out how queries work and much more: discovered subqueries, memorized different types of joins, learned advanced functions. The query I got stuck with in the past appears rather easy to me now.

So, in case you stopped trying because something was too hard — don’t be afraid to put it aside and do something easier. You can come back to the hard stuff later, better prepared, with more time and brain resources.