Need a help with project

[urban swan]

So recently i started make the project task rest API . I understand how it all works and what it is for, but I find it hard to understand why there is this, why not other, as I have little knowledge of how all these requests responds work. In general, I want to ask, what is the most effective way to understand this all, analyze the code with gpt and communicate with it until I do not understand?

[worn beacon]

but I find it hard to understand why there is this, why not other
If you mean "why am I using this library or framework instead of another one that does the same thing", it's usually about trade offs, because one library is more popular, performant, smaller, has the features you need ...

If you talk about concept/procedures, like oauth, password hashing, database indexes, automated testing etc. we usually have to do it for security or performance reasons.
The rest of the time, a good engineer will try to keep their project as small and simple as possible to make maintenance easier.

Without knowing what you are struggling with specifically I can't be more specific than that, so feel free to elaborate.

[urban swan]

I want to ask, what is the most effective way to understand this the codfe, analyze the code with gpt and communicate with it until I do not understand?

[worn beacon]

You have to get your hands dirty.
ChatGPT can get you some code that work, but if you want to understand coding you need to stop using it to write code for you.

When you want to make a change in your project, try out things, don't be affraid to break stuff, because you can always come back to a working version (you should have a git repository setup for that).

So dive into the code, change something, hypothesize what should happen, test it, see what changes/break and try to get to the bottom of what happens to really learn what did go wrong and learn what you did not understand at first.

That will often mean debugging, reading documentation or discussion on the internet, and maybe ask chatGPT if you want, but again don't let the IA write the code for you, only ask it specific question about what you don't understand.

This will take some effort and time, and it can be very tiring. But that how learning goes for any topic.

[urban swan]

thank you!
Could you tell me some project ideas? like with using express node js mango db, like for backend dev beginner

[worn beacon]

The best project is one that solves something for you, or one you are passionate about.
Aim small at first, and break it down into small steps so you can see the project progress and feel the reward as you go on.

If you are missing inspiration, here is the slide they use in the discord server "The Coding Den" when someone ask this question.

Pick something in the easy category (or maybe medium if it really catch your interest), and read the how to section on the right to get started