this post was submitted on 17 Sep 2023
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How do I know when I'm good enough at coding to solve issues/ commit code related changes on open source projects? (lemm.ee)
submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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I program in C and python, and even good first issue problems seem like I have to be Dennis Ritchie himself to solve them. How do I know when I'm ready to solve and commit to projects?

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[โ€“] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Every problem looks impossible until you see the solution, and then it was obvious the whole time.

The feeling never goes away, instead you do what some other commenters have suggested:

  • pick a project
  • get it building locally so you can fix something
  • pick a bug from the list
  • get to work. Understanding what to write means understanding what the solution is, which means understanding the problem and the scope of it, what parts you can fix and what not. This process is more akin to going on a nature hike than painting the view, but people always seem to assume coding is more like the latter.

Tbh, you will likely be able to eventually solve any bug, given time and effort. Reaching out to discord groups in the language or product domain when you have questions will speed the process up.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

When choosing a bug, if you start with one that is possible to reproduce, it might help following the instructions to reproduce it while debugging the app and observe what happens. This can be a way to start understanding how it all runs. Bugs without context or hard to reproduce are usually more complicated and you might need a better knowledge of the code to have an idea of where to look.