Am I capable of becoming a programmer?

[xBlackHeartx]

I had an easy time with HTML and Visual Basic.

As of now though, I'm starting to have my doubts. I'm struggling to learn Python. And I've been playing light bot (a puzzle game made to simulate what its like to be a programmer), and doing terribly. I had to look up the solution to puzzle 10. And in light bot 2, I haven't solved one of the recursion puzzles. I've had to look up the answer for all of them, and I can't imagine how a human could even come up with such solutions. They all look futile to me. The last one I tried I resorted to just tossing in random commands hoping I would guess the right answer.

I only have an average IQ, so I'm hardly a genius. I'm really thinking that this isn't something an average human could possibly do.

And I don't get why people keep saying the word 'logic' when referring to programs. There's nothing 'logical' about it to me. You're just sitting there trying to describe to a calculator how to set up some dominoes to get the result you want. That's not logic. You're trying to give instructions to something that's dumber than an animal. The cursed thing won't even remember what you had it do unless you explicitly tell it to do so. It has NO common sense. And its so mindless it'll walk off a cliff unless you tell it to stop. Freaking ants have more brains than this thing does.

I'm thinking I may need to stick to mark-up languages. I really don't see myself being able write scripts. The sole reason I'm even trying to learn python anyway is so a I can make games (I'm assuming you need to learn python first before you can even begin to use pygame).

[wavic]

I don't know this game. I am not a programmer. I use Python for fun, for my things and projects. This is how I am learning. I can't learn because I must. Doesn't work for me. I remember nothing. So... start from the beginning and have fun. Baby steps. Just try it.
As I said I am not a programmer but basically what I am doing is to break each task into smaller tasks and that way to the end. It's all about of how could you solve a problem when you have in the toolbox Python and all that the third parties can provide as libraries. You can do pretty much  everything.

[Larz60+]

If you have a burning desire to become a programmer, nothing can stop you.
I you feel reluctance to read books, or tutorials, or do exercises,
you probably don't have the drive that is needed to succeed.
The main point is if it's in your heart, you can do it.
There are a plethora of resources available to help you to succeed.
A good place to start is here.
Good Luck and most importantly have fun.

[jogl]

x__x:

You sound like me.  I am an old time programmer, started on Commodore PET's Vic20's, etc, worked 20 years in automotive programming PLC's, robotics, PC's (mostly in Basic and C), some Fortran...

Python and OOP has been a struggle for me.  Because it is so different or because I am no longer a spring chicken, I don't know.  But, although the progress is slow I am learning.

So, my advice, keep going, as mentioned, one step at a time.

Also, I like these tutorials:

https://pythonprogramming.net/

Keep going,
JP.

[metulburr]

Im going to tell you the story of how i got into programming. I believe its relevant to how you think.

i started out by wanting to make games after playing a game called Little Big Planet on Ps3. You created levels, but with limited things. I wanted to have 100% control over everything. I remember the first book i picked up for any programming was a C++ for dummies book in 2011. Before that i didnt do any programming whatsoever. I remember reading through that looking at pointers and the syntax, and was just dumbfounded at it. I never thought i would get anywhere. At that time I was just toying with the idea of programming. Might be something i like, maybe not. I toyed with it for awhile (about 6 months). Making text games here and there learning the fundamentals. I decided i would try college for CS degree. There my instructor introduced python to us and i fell in love with the language. For reasons aside i didnt finish college, but i stayed with programming....and stayed with python. I have delved into game programming and am very happy with the results from python and pygame. I have done other things too like web scraping, GUI programs, web dev, but i consider game programming where i have the most fun at. But it has helped me learn the language better and expand my horizons.

It does take time and effort. Sometimes things just dont click. But they will at some point as long as you stick with it. It has nothing to do with your IQ. IT has 100% with your effort.

[nilamo]

Little Big Planet

That game is so cool.  If someone describes it, it sounds like such a silly idea, but actually playing it (especially in a group setting) is a blast.