The Best Exercises and Quizzes to Help You Learn Programming

Coding and programming careers tend to pay very well and maintain a high demand through a variety of industries. However, learning to code takes a lot of time, practice, and effort. Although coding bootcamps and courses act as excellent methods for learning to program, hands-on learning strategies, such as programming exercises, are a great way to develop coding skills quickly.

In this article, you’ll learn about some of the best programming exercises that will develop or sharpen your skills. You’ll also find some excellent resources that will guide you along your programming journey. To learn more about how you can get help with programming, read on.

Programming Exercises to Help You Learn Programming

One of the best ways to master programming is through practice and repetition. As a beginner, it is best to throw yourself into the deep of coding by trying out real exercises to build your problem-solving abilities. Below are some coding exercises that will help you become a pro at programming.

10 Programming Exercises and Practice Problems (With Solutions)

1. Write Basic Declarations and Expressions in C Basic

C is an easy language to learn. One of the entry-level exercises you should do in this language, especially as a beginner, is to write a C program to print your name, mobile number, and date of birth.

Solution: Open your programming software. Create and save a new file called myname.c. Use the getch (): and clrscr (): functions to read characters from the screen and remove those old/ preview output/ results values respectively.

2. Write a Java Program to Get a Number From the User

This programming exercise is designed to test your understanding of Java conditional statements. You should get a number from the user and print whether it is a positive or negative number. Java supports the typical logical conditions in math. You can use these conditions to perform actions for different decisions.

Solution: Use ‘if’ if a specified condition is true, ‘else’ elsewhere the condition is false, ‘else if’ if the first condition is false, and ‘switch’ when many alternative codes need to be executed.

3. Create a List by Picking an Odd-Index Item from the First List

Using Python, you can write a program to create a list from two given lists. This created list should feature an odd index element from one list and even index elements from the second one. This exercise is designed to test your understanding of data structures in Python.

Solution: Approach this question using List Slicing. It implies accessing a wide range of elements in a given list. The syntax for list slicing is listname[start_index : end_index : step]

4. Write a Program That Will Find Numbers Divisible by Seven But Not a Multiple of Five

This is a Python programming exercise designed to test a beginner’s understanding of this programming language. Similar challenges like this are listed in GitHub’s Python programming exercises. The numbers you find should be between 2,000 and 3,200.

Solution: Check whether each number is divisible by seven, but not divisible by five. To do this, you’ll have to perform 1201 checks. Consider using the range method (#begin #end)

5. Define a Class that Has at Least Two Methods (getString and printString)

This exercise is designed to test your basic comprehension of Python. This language has a built-in string class known as Strings (newly changed to ‘str’) which has a variety of features. They are immutable, meaning they can’t be changed after being created.

Solution: Construct some parameters using the _init_ method.

6. Create an Algorithm That Generates All Prime Numbers From O – N

Give this question a shot if you’re an advanced learner or confident in your programming abilities. This is designed to test your knowledge of algorithms and the Sieve of Eratosthenes. The Sieve of Eratosthenes is one of the most efficient and clever ways to find all prime numbers smaller than n.

Solution: You can use C#, C++, Java, PHP, Python, and JavaScript to write this program. Use the Sieve of Eratosthenes to mark all the multiples of a prime (2, 3, 5, 7, 11) and write an algorithm in the form of pseudo code.

7. Write Your Own Square Root Function

Find the square root of an integer. According to Geeks for Geeks, there are many ways of solving this including the Babylonian method which starts with an arbitrary positive start value. Initialize y=1 and get the approximation root for using average x and y.

Solution: A simple approach involves finding the floor of the square root, with all natural numbers. Start with one and work your way up until the square is greater than the given number.

8. Create a Memory Game in JavaScript

Memory games are simple games played by adults that test both short-term and long-term memory. You can use this exercise to create a basic game that you’ll program and enhance as you grow your skills in JavaScript.

Solution: You’ll need to first set up basic HTML and CSS before defining variables and data in JavaScript. After that’s done, you’ll need to set up the board on DOM load in JavaScript.

9. Create an Empty Vector in R

This is an ideal exercise for learners who are new to R. Vectors are some of the simplest data structures in this language. They involve sequences of elements of the same basic type which can be integers or characters. Complicated data structures are made with vectors.

Solution: There are five ways to go about this. You can use c() with the syntax vector name <- c(), use vector () with the syntax vector name <- vector(), or use the numeric () method with the syntax vector name <- numeric()

10. Build A Web Scraper in Python

A web scraper is a program used to gather information from the Internet. Web scraping is helpful as it can help you extract all sorts of data and use it however you want. It simplifies the process of extracting data and creates easy access to scrapped data.

Solution: You can use Python to scrape any site of the Internet but consider the difficulty involved with doing so. Your web scraper should parse the HTML on your preferred site to extract information as you filter out content using specific words.

How to Get Help with Programming

Even if you feel confident in your abilities, you might need more coding resources to build your programming knowledge. Here are some programming exercises, quizzes, and projects that you’ll find helpful.

Programming Exercises

If you feel confident with the 10 beginner challenges listed above, then you should complete exercises designed for advanced learners. For instance, Edabit provides a series of challenges and exercises designed for students of all learning levels starting from easy to hard to expert. The site features fun coding exercises for all of the major programming languages.

Programming Projects

Projects are arguably the best way to hone your skills and become an expert. There are sites such as FreeCodeCamp and GitHub, both of which offer open source projects for anyone to work on. Besides, once you’ve completed a project, you can list it in your portfolio to impress a potential client or hiring manager.

Programming Quizzes

Programming quizzes work like normal quizzes but they focus on coding and programming languages. They are timed and the time taken for each question will vary with each website. Some sites, such as Quizizz, offer multiple-choice questions. However, quizzes focus on the theory side of coding and often don’t include a practical demonstration.

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Programming Forums and Blogs

Programming forums and blogs are ideal resources if you are looking to network with other programmers in your field. Blogs are great if you are looking for personal experiences, tutorials, informative articles, or a general body of knowledge. You can use forums to post coding questions or queries that can be answered by expert programmers. Some of the best programming forums include GitHub, Stack Overflow, and CodeProject.

Where Can I Practice Programming?

There are many websites that offer ways for users to practice and hone their programming skills. Below are some of the best websites that can you get started.

Websites to Practice Programming

• CodinGame. This website allows you to learn through a series of interactive and immersive games designed to improve your skills as you have fun. You can learn programming languages such as Python, and acquire new skills while solving fun challenges.
• freeCodeCamp. This website features a ton of coding challenges and open projects that are ideal for both new and experienced programmers. The exercises are interactive and are accompanied by tutorials. However, this website is best used as a resource for tutorials.
• Coderbyte. Coderbyte is one of the best platforms to learn to code, especially if you want to become a software developer. The site features both free and paid exercises designed to prepare you for upcoming job interviews. You’ll also find the grading system helpful as it is automated and comes with solutions to effectively help you prepare.
• CheckiO. This is one of the best websites to learn TypeScript or Python through a series of challenges. Opening an account is all that is needed. You can start off with beginner challenges and eventually progress to the advanced ones.
• CodeCombat. CodeCombat is designed for kids but also works well for adult learners. You can learn the fundamentals of programming such as variables, functions, conditionals, and loops.

What’s the Best Way to Learn Programming?

The best way to learn programming is by starting with the easiest programming languages. Start with the fundamentals and coding basics in your language of choice. As C is the mother of coding languages, you should consider starting there. Remember programming is not a theoretical discipline. Set aside a chunk of time every day to practice through exercise questions and projects.

Alternatively, you could join a coding bootcamp that equips students with coding skills through real exercises and real-world challenges. Bootcamps take a short time to complete and may also offer career services that will help you land a job after graduation. Check out some of the best programming coding bootcamps to get started.

Programming Exercises FAQ