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What’s the most underrated programming concept that every beginner should master?
I often see discussions about the importance of learning frameworks and languages, but I feel like certain foundational concepts don’t get the spotlight they deserve. For example, understanding 'event loops' in JavaScript completely changed the way I write code. What’s a concept that you think is often overlooked but can make a huge difference for beginners? Feel free to share why you think it’s important and how it helped you
11 Réponses
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Most overlooked/underrated - how to test and debug
Not strictly a programming concept but touches on several concepts like edge cases.
But it is a skill that is often undervalued and only briefly touched on
Covers lot of sub-topics
👉 How to interpret compiler errors (can be language specific)
👉 Walking through code by hand and using scrap paper to track your variables and loop counters as they change
👉 Adding temporary print statements or console logging to track variables at key points in code
Bonus points for tieing those temporary lines to a global test boolean variable you can turn off or on
👉 Creating test cases to check all variations on inputs
👉 Testing edge cases for inputs which cover ranges, and checking starting and final iterations on loops
👉 Setting up automated test case checking (often needs language specific code library)
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I rarely see asynchronous coding which allows multiple task to run at the same time...
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Zvi if it was taught earlier in the process they might use it more and learn to use it for various purposes as well as grasp experience.
I took one of your earlier codes as an example ...
https://sololearn.com/compiler-playground/WdQF81soxXAS/?ref=app
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BroFar but beginners wouldn’t be doing things that need async, right? Isn’t is just used for things that take a while like an api request or updating a database?
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Just master a language first like Python then practice problem solving or go for development
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Programmingconcepts
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Learning destructors first will help in conserving useful memory
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I think one of the most underrated concepts that every beginner should master is understanding how memory management works—specifically, the difference between stack and heap memory, and concepts like garbage collection and references.
Many beginners focus on learning syntax, frameworks, or libraries, but having a solid grasp of how memory is allocated, used, and cleaned up can drastically improve both the performance and correctness of your code. This concept is often glossed over early in learning, but it's crucial for writing efficient, bug-free programs.
Here's why I think it's important:
Understanding Memory Allocation: When you create a variable, knowing whether it's stored on the stack or the heap can help you understand how long that variable lives and when it can be safely accessed or modified. This is especially important for avoiding common bugs like memory leaks or undefined behavior.
Performance: Knowing how to avoid unnecessary memory usage or inefficient memory allocat
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I feel like learning how seperate parts of code can work together in Object Oriented Programming (OOP) and once you get to see the basics it opens up a whole new world of code.
Also syntax exercises... they are the most important to do as they make it all work.
Oh Yeah, and the most important of all- Have fun doing what you do, when it is fun you will learn and want to learn more! That's how you become the best programmer!
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Handling tasks asynchronously (with callbacks, promises, or async/await) makes your program faster by not freezing while waiting for things like API calls or reading files. Without this, your code can slow down and become hard to manage, especially with long tasks.