Why Does Learning to Code Feel So Hard? A Personal Exploration

Navigate to the small folder you want the program to open in the terminal, then create a symbolic link in the PATH folder after checking the configuration with nano ~/.bash_profile. Before the instructor could finish, they moved on to the next topic.

The author struggles repeatedly to recall keyboard shortcuts for reopening the terminal on a Mac, resorting to Google searches and feeling frustrated.

Why Does an Introductory Tutorial Feel So Difficult?

Whether through online courses, in‑person sessions, or help from friends, the author often ends up feeling foolish, frustrated, and angry, wasting others' time.

Many sessions end abruptly when the author feels like giving up, even though they are often only a few steps away from completing a module or getting an app to work.

The author wonders why learning programming is so hard.

They share personal insights gathered from the Twitter community, citing a post by @raygunio and comments from Hilary Rose.

The "It's So Simple—I Can't Believe You Don't Know It" Attitude

When faced with seemingly simple problems, some people dismiss the learner with remarks like "Oh, that's easy" or "I can't imagine you don't know HTML elements," creating a hostile learning environment.

Even if HTML isn’t considered a "real" programming language, it remains a new skill that can be intimidating.

Such attitudes discourage learners, implying that mastering every nuance of a language is impossible and that the experts may be hiding their own gaps.

As a reminder, learning is the first step toward mastery.

"Left Brain vs. Right Brain" Excuse

When stuck on math or programming problems, the author often excuses themselves by claiming they have a creative brain (left‑brain) and programming requires logical thinking (right‑brain).

Research, such as Belle Beth Cooper’s article debunking programmer‑brain myths, shows that both hemispheres collaborate in most cognitive tasks.

The author wonders if believing they are more creative leads them to practice more and become better, echoing the idea that belief influences performance.

Programming Is Hard

Many articles claim "anyone can learn to code," but believing programming is an easy skill can be misleading.

As Kate Ray notes, the amount of knowledge a programmer must acquire is virtually infinite, and even experts feel a persistent sense of inadequacy.

For beginners, the good news is that progress is possible by taking small, concrete steps rather than vague goals like "I want to learn to code."

Instead of lamenting difficulty with JavaScript, focus on making a static blog interactive, then move to the next step; perseverance pays off.

Original English title: Programming is hard. Is there a problem with my brain?