How can i be better in programing

[Jeeva-Selvin]

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i am jeeva and i am 15 turned 15 just 2 months ago
i am programing form since i was 12-13 i am not sure
the languages i know and femilier with :-
Web Dev :-
html
css
javascript
tailwind
typescript
react
node
express
nextjs
mongoose
mongodb
redux

Ai Ml :-
python
NumPy
pandas
matplotlib
seaborn
sklearn
pytorch-(learning)

learning ai ml just be have a secure my future
i am basicaly learning every fild cuz i have more then 8 years to get a job i will master one
my skills in typescipt nodejs and redux is weak cuz i havent programed in then in ages

now after ai ml i want to stop for now ans learn all the things that will atleast make be a better dev
so what are the things that i should learn and in what order like i think i should learn c or c++ for memor and dsa etc
like what are the things like dsa which can make a a better devloper
and i also feel like i am not even a programer day by day beacuse the only project i have is a wiki style game info website and what i am doing to add more pages are just copying the alredy existing page from my own website and moding it to suppoort the new content
so now i feel like i an nothing and cant code anything like when i want to create anything i want i am able to create it still the imposter syndrom thingie is causing like too much stress
also if you are recomending the things that i should learn plz also mention the sorce form where i can learn and also i am not good at learning form boring text or and slow video the only possible sorce i am able to learn are the video whome are stimulating and are on point plz if you know any good sorce list it too

Thank You!

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[Alfredo-vdk]

Yo Jeeva, respect for even asking this at 15, most people your age aren't thinking this deep about it. Here's my honest take:

First, kill the imposter syndrome talk for a sec. You've been coding since 12-13 and already know a full MERN-ish stack plus you're touching ML. That's not "nothing." The reason it feels like nothing is because you're comparing yourself to some imaginary "real programmer" instead of looking at where you were a year ago. Also copy-pasting your own code and modifying it for new features? That's literally how devs work. Nobody writes everything from scratch every time. That's called reusing patterns, not "not being a real programmer."

On what to learn next:

Skip jumping into C/C++ right now just for "memory." You don't need that yet. What you actually need is DSA, and you can learn DSA in JS or Python, languages you already know. Don't add a new language on top of a new concept, that's just extra friction. Learn DSA first in a language you're comfortable in. If later you want to go low-level (systems programming, game engines, embedded stuff) then pick up C/C++. But for now it'll just slow you down.

Order I'd actually do:

1. DSA basics (arrays, strings, hashmaps, recursion, then trees/graphs later) — this is the actual "makes you a better dev" skill people mean when they say DSA. It's less about the algorithms and more about training your brain to break problems down.
2. While doing that, build ONE real project that's yours, not a tutorial clone. Doesn't have to be big. Something with an actual problem you're solving. This fixes the "I can't create anything" feeling way faster than any course will.
3. After that, go back and actually get comfortable in TS/Node/Redux again since you said that's rusty. Rebuild a small project in it, don't just "review notes."
4. THEN come back to ML more seriously if you still want it, once your fundamentals are solid.

Resources that are fast-paced, not boring:

• NeetCode (YouTube + neetcode.io) — DSA explained super clean and to the point, no fluff
• Fireship — for quick, high energy overviews of concepts/tools, great for when you don't want a 3 hour lecture
• CS50 (Harvard, free, on YouTube/edX) — genuinely entertaining and well produced if you want real CS fundamentals, not boring at all
• Theo (t3.gg) — good for web dev / TS practical stuff, fast and opinionated
• The Coding Train — great if you want a fun way to build DSA/logic intuition through visuals

Honestly bro you have 8 years like you said, you don't need to rush. You're already ahead. Just stop tutorial hopping and build stuff, even small broken stuff. That fixes the "I feel like a fraud" thing faster than any resource list will.

[Jeeva-Selvin]

ok bro than kyou soo much for all that ill try my best to learn all

[Saharier36]

Hey Jeeva, you're already way ahead for 15! Since others covered DSA and roadmaps, here is one practical thing that will instantly kill the "I only copy-paste" feeling:

1. Stop starting from blank files, contribute to Open Source: Look at intermediate open-source repositories built with Next.js or React. Try reading other developers' code, understanding their PRs, and fixing a "good first issue." Reading professional code teaches structure far better than building solo clone apps.

2. Build an API-driven real-world tool: Instead of standard CRUD or wiki sites, build something that relies on real-time data or background processing (e.g., a web scraper, a rate-limited API gateway, or a bot). This forces you to think about error handling, edge cases, and asynchronous programming.

3. Write tests: If you want to feel like a real engineer, write Unit/Integration tests (using Vitest or Jest) for your existing code. Testing forces you to write cleaner, modular code and proves your logic actually works without guessing.

[Jeeva-Selvin]

thanks,ukk do all that

[amiriguesss]

🏷️ Discussion Type

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i am jeeva and i am 15 turned 15 just 2 months ago i am programing form since i was 12-13 i am not sure the languages i know and femilier with :- Web Dev :- html css javascript tailwind typescript react node express nextjs mongoose mongodb redux

Ai Ml :- python NumPy pandas matplotlib seaborn sklearn pytorch-(learning)

learning ai ml just be have a secure my future i am basicaly learning every fild cuz i have more then 8 years to get a job i will master one my skills in typescipt nodejs and redux is weak cuz i havent programed in then in ages

now after ai ml i want to stop for now ans learn all the things that will atleast make be a better dev so what are the things that i should learn and in what order like i think i should learn c or c++ for memor and dsa etc like what are the things like dsa which can make a a better devloper and i also feel like i am not even a programer day by day beacuse the only project i have is a wiki style game info website and what i am doing to add more pages are just copying the alredy existing page from my own website and moding it to suppoort the new content so now i feel like i an nothing and cant code anything like when i want to create anything i want i am able to create it still the imposter syndrom thingie is causing like too much stress also if you are recomending the things that i should learn plz also mention the sorce form where i can learn and also i am not good at learning form boring text or and slow video the only possible sorce i am able to learn are the video whome are stimulating and are on point plz if you know any good sorce list it too

Thank You!

Guidelines

• I have read and understood this category's guidelines before making this post.

yo jeeva,
first — you're 15 with a Next + Express + Mongo app deployed on the internet. that's already more than 95% of the people posting in this thread can say. so let's kill the "i'm not a programmer" thing right now, because it's factually wrong.
now the real answers.
skip C and C++ for now.
Everyone says "learn C++ for memory and DSA" and it's mostly bad advice for someone in your position. C doesn't make you a better web dev — it makes you a better C dev. It's worth learning when you actually need it (systems, embedded, game engines, WASM, compilers). Right now it would just be 6 months of pointer pain that doesn't compound into anything you're building.
And DSA in C++ at 15? No. DSA is language-agnostic. All the C++ does is add manual memory management and verbose syntax that makes the algorithms harder to see, not easier. Learn DSA in Python (you already use it) or TS. Move the syntax out of the way, learn the actual thinking.
If you do want the low-level knowledge eventually (and you should, later), do it through CS50, not a C++ tutorial. David Malan teaches you C in a way where every concept has a reason to exist. You'll actually enjoy it.
the real "make me a better dev" list, roughly in order:

1. Git, properly. Branching, merging, rebasing, resolving conflicts, PR flow. Not "git add . && git commit -m 'fix'". → Learn Git Branching (learngitbranching.js.org) — it's an interactive game, you solve puzzles by moving commits around. Best way this has ever been taught. Then MIT's Missing Semester episode on git.
2. Fix your wiki's architecture. More on this below — but it's the single highest-value thing on this list for you specifically.
3. TypeScript for real. You said it's weak. Fix that now, before it calcifies. → Matt Pocock / Total TypeScript (lots free on YouTube, and the type-challenges repo on GitHub is free and addictive).
4. DSA. Big-O, arrays/hashmaps, two pointers, sliding window, recursion, trees, graphs, DP. → NeetCode (neetcode.io) — short, no fluff, animated, 150-problem roadmap with a built-in editor. If something doesn't click, watch Abdul Bari whiteboard it.
5. How the web actually works. HTTP, DNS, TLS, cookies vs sessions, JWT, CORS, caching, CDNs. This is the wall between "junior" and "mid". → Hussein Nasser on YouTube. He's the best on this, period. Not flashy, but he makes networking make sense.
6. SQL + Postgres. You know Mongo, which means you've never had to model data properly. Install Postgres, rebuild your wiki data in it, write joins. Mongo hides exactly the skill that gets you paid. → then Hussein Nasser again, and use Prisma or Drizzle so it's not painful.
7. Testing + debugging. Vitest or Jest, Playwright, Chrome DevTools network tab, actually reading stack traces instead of googling the error text.
8. Linux, Docker, CI/CD. → Missing Semester for the shell, KodeKloud or Killercoda for Docker (both browser-based labs, zero setup, gamified). GitHub Actions to auto-deploy your wiki.
9. Design patterns + clean code. → Patterns.dev (free, modern, JS/React focused), Refactoring.Guru (visual), and CodeAesthetic on YouTube — 10-minute animated videos on why code smells. Watch his naming and abstraction videos first.
10. System design (later). → ByteByteGo (animated, Alex Xu). After HTTP and DBs, not before.
    on the AI/ML thing: don't go down the research path unless you love math. "AI engineering" is the employable version — RAG, embeddings, vector DBs, prompt systems, fine-tuning small models, building agents on top of APIs. → Andrej Karpathy's Zero to Hero series (build GPT from scratch, genuinely mesmerizing), fast.ai (top-down, code-first, Jeremy Howard is a great lecturer), StatQuest for the stats, Kaggle Learn for hands-on micro-courses. Karpathy alone is worth more than 40 hours of "AI course" videos.
    about the copying-and-pasting-pages thing — this is the thing to actually act on, because you're right that it's the source of the feeling, and you're wrong that it means you can't code.
    Copy-modify-repeat is what 90% of professional dev work looks like at junior level. The difference between you and a senior isn't that they avoid it — it's that they get annoyed by the third copy and go abstract it. So do that. Concretely:
    Right now you probably have pages/wiki/zelda.tsx, pages/wiki/mario.tsx, and you duplicate one to make the next. Instead: one dynamic route, and the content lives in data.
    // app/wiki/[slug]/page.tsx
    import { notFound } from "next/navigation";
    import { wikiPages } from "@/content/wiki";

export function generateStaticParams() {
return wikiPages.map((p) => ({ slug: p.slug }));
}

export default function WikiPage({ params }: { params: { slug: string } }) {
const page = wikiPages.find((p) => p.slug === params.slug);
if (!page) notFound();

return (

{page.title}

{page.sections.map((s) => (
<Section key={s.id} {...s} />
))}

);
}
And content/wiki.ts is just an array of typed objects, or better, MDX files in a folder with content collections. Adding a new game becomes writing content, not writing a page. You'll spend one afternoon on it and the imposter syndrome drops noticeably, because you'll have built an actual system instead of a file pile.
That refactor alone teaches you: data modeling, dynamic routing, types, separation of concerns. It's a better portfolio piece than the site itself.
stuff you can read that isn't boring, since you hate walls of text: Josh Comeau's blog is fully interactive with animations (his "CSS for JS Devs" course is the gold standard on this). Scrimba's courses are interactive screencasts — you type inside the video, which fixes the "passive watching does nothing" problem. boot.dev is gamified backend with XP and streaks if you want the dopamine loop.
do this next, honestly: learn git properly (a weekend), refactor the wiki into data-driven pages (a weekend), then start NeetCode. That's the next 3 weeks. Everything else on the list waits its turn. You have 8 years — the only way to actually waste them is to start ten things at once.
And one last thing: everyone at 15 who can ship feels exactly like you do right now. The people who don't feel it are the ones who never built anything real. You built something real. Keep going.
— your name

[Jeeva-Selvin]

thank you so much for all that id really step towards following the roadmap of yours
genuanly Thank you

[amiriguesss]

Anytime❤️