It's my second year in my computer science degree, 2nd semester. I feel like I am still not good enough and not satisfied with myself! I still can't program and when I have a task I can't think. I just go to google and copy the solution most of the times! Is it normal? I do study a lot even in the summer, but there is something missing.
What can I change in my study technique, to help me become a better programmer?
I will only answer the 1st question (as Ben says move the 2nd to a new question (the rule is, one question per question)).
So you want to get good a programming.
The first thing to do is to stop cheating (your are harming your-self). You will have to start with much easier problems, than you are currently on (It will seem that you are going backwards).
Then you need to practice, practice, practice. There is an exercise called programming kata, where you just do the same exercise over and over, until you master it.
If you do copy code, then:
To learn to write, first learn to read. Therefore read other peoples code. It is OK to read solutions. Read then, study them, understand them. Then do the exercise yourself. (It is not about memorising, it is about understanding.)
The language you use will have a big effect. Some languages are unsuited as a beginner language.
e.g. Javascript is not a good choice of language, for learning to program.
Speaking very generally, coding requires two different kinds of skills:
for loop looks like.for loop.Going to google and copying some code might help with the first skill, but it doesn't help with the second skill at all. And it turns out that the second skill is much more important than the first skill!
The only way to improve your ability to code is through practice. Here's what I recommend:
The idea is that you need to practice breaking down a problem into smaller steps and working on one small step at a time.
Also see the answers to this related question: Advice for becoming more confident in programming
There's often a huge difference between sitting in a class and solving problems. It's the difference between knowing how to do an integral and realizing that in this specific instance it makes far more sense to use the trapezoidal method to numerically find the integral.
So, how do you learn to solve problems? By solving problems. Which of course sounds mildly circular. Here's what I'd recommend: pick an easier problem, one you know you can solve. [If you're looking for problems, try out the Euler problems, which are a ton of fun, and start easy and then get harder.]
Solve that problem as many ways you can. Try to go for at least five. Bonus points for all the extra solutions you come up with. Then, go through each solution and explain to your handy rubber duck what makes each solution good or bad - the pros or cons to each. Try to invent situations where each solution would be optimal, or decidedly non-optimal.
This sort of work will improve you far more than studying. Studying will expand your toolkit to some extent, but you have to use the toolkit to really understand whether or not certain things will work in certain situations. When you're in a woodshop class, there's a reason you'll spend most of your time on the shop floor. The human mind gains far more from experience than reading or lecture.
Finally, let me make something very clear. While you shouldn't make someone else do your schoolwork, you have to be careful not to completely fence yourself off from help. My dad (an engineer) often says that one of the great mistakes of engineers is believing they are working on a completely unique problem that has never been solved before, or somehow believing that no one can help them (or that they shouldn't have to ask for help). All of that is false.
My time breakdown when working on a project is generally 1% programming, 49% debugging, 50% googling/stack-overflow-ing. It's not a bad thing to ask the almighty google. It's more about knowing when something is within your capabilities, and when you need help. And always, always, read about why the code works - critical so you can adapt it to your application.
Tl;dr: solve them problems. And don't use google too much.
What can I change in my study technique, to help me become a better programmer?
I've always found that programming is a way of thinking; a thought process. I started with Pascal, C, COBOL and Assembler. was a system admin for a long while and suddenly I am programming in VBA now. Learnt VBA in 2 weeks and still learning more.
Well to be a better programmer, the first thing you need is a mind that thinks in terms of processes. What must come first then follow on to the second and go on to the third.
Have you got that ? Practice with a simple task like opening the door, If you were to instruct a computer/robot to do so... how would the commands be like. Don't worry about what language its going to be in. Start with the psuedocode/algorithm. What is the general flow. ie 1. approach the door; 2. take note of the door ( opens towards or away ) distance ( within reach) how to activate door opening procedure. and most importantly IS IT OPEN. 3. depending on the conditions of the previous checks you proceed to either open the door or walk right through.
Comment all your code ! I had a Lecturer return 0 for any program that had no comment on it. Comments are meant to show the logic/process/thinking of your program. So no comment equates to no thinking or no logic. didn't matter to him if your program worked or not.
Understand what you are copying, read the commented sections of the code that you are copying. It will give you a hint of why some commands are there and why some are not.
These were the basic tenets that were drilled in to me in my first years of programming. Still sticks.
Language is just how you say something. If you got the mindset right, and the ability to think out the process/logic of a program. You can program in any language, Java, JSON, C#, C++, python or even VB; Its just how to type the syntax of the commands. a good IDE will stop you from screwing that up too much.
edited …to see edit history (So you can find the bit I deleted). $\endgroup$