Reasons People Fail to Learn Coding (And How to Improve)
Sigma School
4th September 2024
Most people who try to learn coding fail because they fall into hidden traps—successful programmers included.
They probably have given up more than twice, but they’ve learned how to avoid these pitfalls, and you can do the same.
In this article, we’re giving tips from real experiences to help you learn to code effectively.
But before we get into that, you need to understand these traps and how they block your progress in coding.
Let’s get one thing straight—you’ve been going about learning to code all wrong.
Most people dive headfirst into learning a programming language, but that’s not where your focus should be.
This list of traps will tell you why.
This is a common trap yet unseen. If you want to code effectively, you need to learn how to program first.
Not the other way around.
If you don’t grasp the fundamental concepts, how can you write good code, no matter what language you’re using?
Learn More: 3 Things You Should Know Before Learning to Code
Let’s break it down with an easy example: spoken languages.
Back in primary school, you learned the basics of English—subject, verb, object.
That’s the logical sentence structure.
But if you switch over to Japanese, that structure flips to subject, object, verb.
Understanding these basic concepts in one language makes it easier to pick up another.
It’s the same with programming.
You can’t just start coding in a new language without grasping its core logic first.
Take one of Sigma School’s students, for example. He got hired as a PHP programmer, but here’s the twist—we don’t even teach PHP.
So how did he pull it off? Simple—he learned to program well.
Once you understand the logic behind loops, conditionals, functions, and arrays, picking up the syntax of any language is just a matter of applying what you already know.
And that’s where most beginners trip up.
You’re getting bogged down memorizing syntax instead of focusing on the underlying concepts that actually matter.
This brings us to the second trap.
Memorizing is not a shortcut; it’s actually the wrong path altogether.
Coding is a lot like learning math—you can’t just read a book and memorize formulas to get good at it.
You have to practice.
Sure, watching tutorials is a great way to get the basics down, but if you want to really grow as a coder, you need to get your hands dirty with some real-world practice.
If you don’t practice, you’re not making mistakes.
And if you’re not making mistakes, you’re not coming up with solutions.
That means you’re not solving real-world problems.
Just being able to recall something from memory isn’t skill; that’s just knowledge.
To gain coding skills, you can’t rely on motivation.
Most people stop learning the moment the excitement fades. But ask yourself—is your goal to stay excited, or is it to succeed?
Obviously, it’s success.
Motivation is great—it gets you started, but it only lasts until you don’t feel like doing it anymore.
Discipline, on the other hand, is what keeps you going no matter what, all the way to your goal.
Here’s where people fall into the trap.
They start making excuses—“I’ll do it tomorrow,” “I’m too tired today.”
And before you know it, tomorrow turns into next week, next month, and eventually, you stop altogether.
I’ll be honest—I’m a serial failure. I’ve given up three, four times.
The bad news is, I quit. The good news?
I kept coming back.
My motivation ran dry more times than I can count, but it was my discipline that pushed me through to success.
It’s not about constantly moving forward, but about steadily moving upward. Even if that means running into challenges.
Unfortunately, that’s another trap most people fall into.
Let’s be real—how many times have you told yourself, “I’ll tackle that when I’m good at it”?
It’s a common mindset, but it’s holding you back.
Instead, try thinking, “I’ll give it a shot, and if I fail, I’ll learn something new.”
Mistakes and challenges are inevitable in coding. So why avoid them?
Challenges are the perfect opportunity to figure out your strengths and weaknesses, to discover what works and what doesn’t.
When you learn from your mistakes or failures, the result is always a win. That’s where the real learning happens.
Instead of shying away from them, get used to diving right into the thick of it.
I’ve faced my fair share of challenges while teaching myself to code, and through all those struggles, I finally figured out what really works to get better at coding.
If only I’d known these things back then—it would’ve made the journey a whole lot smoother.
To actually get better at coding, it’s time to stop watching tutorials and start coding.
We’ve met countless people who complain about how hard coding is, how tough it is to learn.
Then we found out they don’t actually code—they just watch tutorials.
They go through tens of tutorials a day but haven’t written a single line of code.
Tutorials are a great starting point, but if you want to reach the finish line, you have to level up your game.
You can’t stay at level 1 forever.
Start coding.
Once you grasp a fundamental concept, don’t just sit on it—apply it. Build a simple project, get your hands dirty, and work on perfecting it.
At Sigma School, this is exactly how we do it.
Our lessons are 20% theory and 80% practical application. We focus on concrete outcomes.
We don’t just teach our students “what an array is” and leave it at that. We teach them what it is, and then say, “Now, here’s an app you need to create using arrays.”
That’s how we approach every single lesson, all the way up to their final projects.
If you follow this approach, you won’t just gain coding skills—you’ll develop the ability to tackle anything that comes your way.
If you have this one figured out, then you already have a strong start.
We’ve structured our lessons into modules that guide you through every stage of your learning journey.
We start with the fundamentals, then move on to the frontend module, all the way to the full-stack module, with a bonus UI/UX module to round it out.
Learn More: Full Stack vs Front End vs Back End Developers
Each module is packed with lessons designed to help you master that particular area.
For example, in the frontend module, you’ll build projects like a link counter, a build module, and a login app.
That’s exactly what you need to do—plan each step of your journey.
Make sure you know exactly what you need, both in terms of hardware and software.
The last thing you want is to get halfway through and realize you’re missing something crucial.
That’s a surefire way to stall your progress and kill your motivation.
So, take the time to create a roadmap.
Do your research.
Figure out where you are now, where you want to be, and how you’re going to get there, step by step.
We can bet that many self-taught programmers realize that the pitfalls they encountered could have been avoided or at least lessened with a clearer sense of direction.
Had they started a side project early on to actively apply what they were learning, things might have turned out differently.
Having a side project is a game-changer. It lets you apply what you’ve learned while also creating something tangible—two wins in one.
When I started building my own projects, I quickly learned that mapping things out is crucial.
The first step is to ask yourself some key questions:
To make this easier, head over to Google and search for a "value proposition canvas."
It should look like this:
Find a blank template and start filling it out with the ideas you have for your side project.
As you do this, remember that your project doesn’t need to be perfect—it needs to be usable and useful.
No project is beyond criticism.
Just look at Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), or TikTok. They all serve a purpose, even though they have their fair share of critics.
Once you’ve nailed down what you want to build, break your project into smaller parts.
If you’re building a website, for example, divide it into sections like the header, main content area, sidebars, and footer.
Then, break each section down even further.
Do you want a search box or dropdown menus in the header? Navigation links in the footer? Figure out what you need in each part of your project.
Here’s why this is important: you won’t find a tutorial that shows you exactly how to build your entire project from start to finish.
But you can find plenty of tutorials on how to create each smaller component.
Just start writing your code. This approach is 100 times better than worrying about where to start or whether you’re doing it perfectly.
Forget all that.
Make mistakes, solve problems, and learn from the experience.
If you’re inexperienced, you’ll learn along the way.
And if your project or parts of it are similar to existing ones, open up the source code to see how they handled the features you want to implement.
Learning from other people’s successes and mistakes is a privilege.
Take advantage of it.
When your code is finished, let other people review your code and you review theirs.
This is a real-world challenge that helps you develop your skills.
For example, you're comfortable with loops but haven’t explored more advanced techniques like list comprehensions in Python.
By reviewing someone else’s code, you might come across a list comprehension that accomplishes in one line what would take you five lines with a loop.
And having others review your code is constructive, especially when you’re still learning.
A second pair of eyes can catch errors you missed, suggest improvements, or even confirm that your code is solid.
You’ll get better at coding and they’ll know that too. As long as you don’t stop learning.
It’s easier to achieve anything if you keep learning.
Whether you’re job hopping to gain experience, joining a coding bootcamp, or diving into self-learning.
Take one of our students, for example.
She graduated with an IT degree but realized her education lacked hands-on projects.
So, she made the smart move to join a coding bootcamp to fill that gap.
As a self-learner myself, I can tell you, it’s not the easier path as people made it to be.
When we say “don’t stop learning,” it means take on something new.
We’re living in an era where technology evolves at lightning speed—whether it’s AI, smartphones, cars, or biotech, there’s always something new on the horizon.
These days, breakthroughs happen almost weekly.
So, don’t get comfortable.
Figure out what you’re unfamiliar with, identify what’s new, and get a head start on it.
The key to staying relevant in tech is continuous learning and adaptation.
Finally, beyond everything we’ve mentioned in this article, your personal learning style plays a huge role too.
Some people absorb information best by listening or watching, while others learn by doing and experiencing.
The real secret, though, is to focus on understanding, not just memorizing.
That’s the approach we take with our students, and it’s why they can present us with incredible projects they’ve built themselves.
It’s proof that the right learning approach leads to amazing results.
