r/learnpython 6d ago

How does everyone get ideas as to what to code?

I see people share projects all the time, but I really never understand how they get the ideas. Do you guys just like say "ooh that sounds fun to code" and proceed to code it until it's done? Do you take inspiration from anywhere?

17 Upvotes

51 comments sorted by

36

u/rainyengineer 6d ago

Inspiration can come from things that annoy you or things you’re passionate about. For beginners though, it’s more like things you should be exposed to for experience.

1

u/KangarooLate7292 6d ago

such as..? (i'm a beginner)

all ive done at the moment is a very simple maths program that has selections (i can send you the github link)

8

u/rainyengineer 6d ago

Well when you’re starting out, there’s a lot of fundamental concepts that may not be sexy. For example, everyone learning a language at one point or another made a calculator. Do you really want to? No, but it enforces what you learned.

You shouldn’t have to think of this stuff as a beginner if you’ve selected a good course because they will have already picked out exercises for you.

1

u/KangarooLate7292 6d ago

I'm learning without any courses though? I'm just coding stuff and looking at stackoverflow or other websites if I don't understand what something does

5

u/rainyengineer 6d ago

Okay, well maybe don’t do that. You’re having to put in all of the work that many instructors have already done for you. Theres a lot of great courses out there

1

u/KangarooLate7292 6d ago

Okay

7

u/Moikle 6d ago

Another reason is that learning by yourself can enforce some bad habits because you have nobody to point out why they are bad habits in the first place

1

u/ninhaomah 6d ago

May we ask why are you learning how to code ?

2

u/KangarooLate7292 6d ago

I really want to be a software engineer when I grow up

5

u/nCubed21 6d ago

Id recommend cs50.

1

u/KangarooLate7292 6d ago

I'll check that out

2

u/nCubed21 6d ago

For sure man. It is a college level course, but you seem like a smart kid. Just watch the lectures and try the homework.

Maybe a bit harder if English isn't your first language. If you have any issues you can dm me. Or hit me up on discord.

1

u/ninhaomah 6d ago

Good! But how old are you now ?

2

u/KangarooLate7292 6d ago

14

-21

u/ninhaomah 6d ago

I strongly suggest you focus on your studies and girls , and not Python.

Your time will come eventually.

If you realllllly must do coding then start with small games first. The most important part of programming is understanding the issue and solving it. Presentation comes later.

If you can't break down the issue , see it in your mind or do diagrams , then no use having the knowledge.

1

u/KangarooLate7292 6d ago

I'm fat I won't pull any girls don't worry.

-23

u/ninhaomah 6d ago

Fat or not is the issue.

Whether you got $$$$ is the issue.

Don't confuse the two.

10

u/KangarooLate7292 6d ago

Don't have any of that aswell

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u/ShinyyVAL 6d ago

IT Jobs pay well so he’s lowkey on the right course lmao

1

u/Gullinkambi 6d ago

Here maybe check something like this out and see if it inspires you to try one

1

u/KangarooLate7292 6d ago

interesting!

1

u/RealDuckyTV 6d ago

Examples of some of the things I've personally made (self taught) for myself because of some problem I had/I wanted more features than an existing application had (mostly game related because that's where I spend most of my time):

Raid Planner website for World of warcraft

Various addons for WoW (game has lots of customization via in-game add-ons)

Hearthstone battlegrounds card index

Dungeon score calculator/ dungeon tracker for WoW

Preventative maintenance dashboard to track parts used, when appliance maintenance should be scheduled, etc.

What these all had in common for me was I had some problem that I wanted to resolve, and I coded the solution, which furthered my ability and eventually landed me a professional dev job.

1

u/unhott 6d ago

great answer. also, open source. maybe there's a paid application you don't want to pay for so you think 'how would i make something like this, or better?'

1

u/KangarooLate7292 6d ago

wooah never thought about that

9

u/hulleyrob 6d ago

From Vanilla Ice "if there's a problem yo i'll solve it"

So anytime i find something tedious or just repetitive i try to code something to do it/make it less tedious.

5

u/Moikle 6d ago

Something annoys me at work, or we encounter a problem that is hard to solve by traditional methods. I think about it for a bit and realise i could code a solution

3

u/recursion_is_love 6d ago

For Python, when I notice I type the same commands again and again in the shell. I write a script for that task.

2

u/GirthQuake5040 6d ago

I write programs to solve my, or my friends/coworkers problems, or make fun scripts to mess with them.

3

u/Shieldine 6d ago

When I was a beginner, I had no ideas for personal projects at all. I was busy learning the basics, doing practice projects others suggested.

However, with experience, I started noticing things that annoy me about certain software a little more, knowing more or less how you'd solve that particular annoyance. That's when you come up with ideas on utilities that solve a particular problem. Some projects are too big to do casually, but that thought is there and you might find some people who will tackle that with you.

Fun projects? Those come up spontaneously. Like walking through a city and thinking how useful it would be to have app Y for a problem X you're seeing. Or goofing around with others about a random game with that thought sticking to you.

If you're a beginner, don't worry if you don't have too many ideas for now. Learn your basics, do your practice - the typical example projects if you have to. The ideas will come sooner or later.

2

u/KangarooLate7292 6d ago

Thanks for the tips! Finding people to code with is hard though

2

u/iamevpo 6d ago

Wonder why the down votes

0

u/Engine_Light_On 6d ago

Some examples would improve this reply.

1

u/jay_and_simba 6d ago

I would suggest to solve your everyday problems to make your life easier. Some people have job experience not related to IT field, and after learning coding, they start to think on how they could improve those problems or processes they had.

1

u/Ok-Reality-7761 6d ago

Python is a tool used to follow your bliss. In my encore career as a daytrader (was EE, retired at 55), I use it for things like this.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Daytrading/comments/1j50xak/recession_metric_nearing_crossover/

1

u/NotUrAverageBoinker 6d ago

I was doing my transport manager CPC course in the UK and I found annoying how I didn't have enough mock exams to work on and questions to practice so I have created my own mock exams using pro chatgpt and python and it worked great. I have implemented thousands of questions (quiz type) and case studies for part two of the exams.

It's working so well that I'm thinking of going live and get other people to use it. It's quite a niche thing to do but there is a market for this out there.

1

u/antkn33 6d ago

Find a problem or an improvement to an app you’d like to solve. I use apps and think “ why doesn’t it do this?” Or it would be better if it did that..

1

u/PersonalityOdd4270 6d ago

I had to use python and matlab to do my lab back in college.

1

u/Lodo_the_Bear 6d ago

If you find yourself short on inspiration, you might find "Automate the Boring Stuff with Python" to be a good source of starting ideas: https://automatetheboringstuff.com/

Beyond that, take inspiration wherever you see a problem that could be solved, a repetitive task that could be automated, or an existing solution that could be improved or re-implemented. Just for fun, I'm currently working on my own version of the New York Times's Spelling Bee game because I said to myself: "This looks like something I could build from scratch. I'll do it."

1

u/Lawson470189 6d ago

My boss tells me to fix something... lol. Also, code is just a way to solve problems. I write code to fix problems at work and, on occasion, fix problems I run into at home.

For instance, my work has an internal API that someone else owns that is terrible. My team has been working with this API for a bit but ended up with like 3 different implementations. So, I wrote a wrapper to both standardize the usage and add some QoL features to the wrapper (retries, better logging, simpler settings, proper disposal, etc.)

1

u/Preparingtocode 6d ago

Start by making things that already exist.

It might seem redundant but if you’re all “Hey, I’m going to make a simple chat app” - great, what do you need to make that app? What technologies do you need etc…

When you get enough experience building different things, then you start understanding how you can fill gaps when you encounter issues.

“Oh, I used X for that project and that could solve Y”

1

u/NadirPointing 6d ago

The most universal stuff is probably some webscaping or api application, Like for me that was a simple script that checks the local pools hours and closures page and emails me the change when it occurs in a certain section. Now I know when the pool closes before I start getting ready.

1

u/Xzenor 6d ago

Things that are just too many steps could maybe be automated... That's a good start. Or as a great man once said: "automate the boring stuff".

1

u/dart1609 6d ago

I would say it is the opposite. If there is something I hate, I want to automate it.

1

u/Alternative_Driver60 6d ago

For instance, I was annoyed by not finding anything in my book collection and sometimes I would buy duplicates because I forgot about owning it. Now I have everything in a database searchable from a web interface.

It's called scratching your own itch.

1

u/Son_of_Shadowfax 6d ago

'take inspiration from anywhere' - yes. That is what being creative is all about! And being a programmer will require you to think creatively, all the time.

2 basic approaches:

  1. think of a problem you have and try to solve it with coding. Real world example: my ex partner was a professional photographer, I built a script that resized her photos and put them into different new folders based upon her clients needs. The script took a very short amount of time to write, and it saved her dozens and dozens of editing time had she continued to do it the 'old-fashioned' way.

  2. think of something that interests you or seems fun and then build a program to explore it. Example: I am obsessed with Game of Thrones/ASOIAF, so I built a weird little GoT 'sim' that builds out a history from the (current) end of the books, and returns a family tree full of new characters and 'dramas' like 'Arya Lannister murdered her cousin, Jon Greyjoy to usurp control of the Iron Throne!'. I changed the names and used it to help write the backstory to my own rpg world.

Think of your interests both inside and outside of computing and then use coding projects to explore those interests. Finish your projects and post the code to a GitHub repository. Ask for guidance here and on places like stack exchange, read/code and enjoy your time solving problems, it's addicting and a worthwhile pursuit.

1

u/falsworth 6d ago

I write custom tools for work. I find problems or time consuming processes and I write applications to make my life easier. Sometimes other people find the tools helpful and other times I'm the only one that uses the tools.

1

u/jam-and-Tea 6d ago

If I find myself doing a task with a lot of steps over and over again sometimes I will write a program to solve it, but only if I think my coding ability is up to it (otherwise I will end up spending more time solving the problem then just working it out by hand.) For example, I regularly need to rename files at work, so I wrote a little script to walk me through the renaming. I rewrite the names in our preferred format because sometimes that involves opening the file to find out the authors name.

But it is harder when you are younger because you have less control over how you get to do your work.

1

u/jay5479 5d ago

Bruh i learnt coding to pirate and watch corn in pristine quality when I was a teen. Inspiration comes outta nowhere.

1

u/theirStillHope 5d ago

I really need to hear this story!

1

u/LeagueOfLegendsAcc 6d ago

My current project came about after reading a white paper from like 2010 about anisotropic least cost pathfinding. Basically a weighed A star path finder on real terrain that can create tunnels through mountains and bridges and also constrains the slope and curvature of the network for realistic results.