Why is programming both easy and hard?

Answer 1

Programming can be easy because there is a set logical and methodical way of producing a solution in programming, although on the other hand it can be difficult to understand how certain functions in programming work and therefore how it can be applied.

Programming can be easy if your mindset is logical, but it can be hard based on the fact that when dealing with complex problems, sometimes it is hard to know what it is that you want to make use of.

My advice to anyone who wants to learn programming is to consider this, are you good at maths? Not a must but is recommended to be good at maths. Have you taken any programming at school and did you do well. If yes, go for programming, if not, then maybe consider other options depending on what your gut feeling is.

If you for example want to do a bachelor of computer science and have no programming background and therefore not certain what to expect, then perhaps do a bridging programming course to see what programming is like, or perhaps go to a vocational college such as TAFE and do a programming course there to see what its like before doing computer science or a related field.

Some universities other their subjects through online university services such as Open Universities Australia, which gives students the option to enrol in a subject without doing a degree, which can be useful if you want to just find out what a degree might be like by attempting a particular subject, like programming.

Do your best, always make sure to do weekly study if you can and study all of the important details, for example how do if-else statements work, how do loops work, how do functions work, etc.

If a lecturer says there is suggested reading but you don't need a textbook, best to get the suggested textbook/s in case if you need more information about how to solve various programming problems since textbooks are of course more detailed than lecture notes.