Is it normal to get stuck on this many code challenges

oh yeah my friend, thats part of programming. Each time you get past an obstacle though you will build confidence for future obstacles. You can always post your question on the community and someone will help explain it conceptually to you. One day at a time my friend.

Of course you can be a web developer Jason! I am studying HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and I could probably give you some pointers if you need them. Also, if you're getting stuck on coding challenges, here's my advice: Think about what you want to do, then google search if there's a way to do it in your language. There most likely is, and you'll probably get an MDN, W3Schools, or Stack Overflow answer forum that can help you understand. Additionally, I may be able to help you with some of your problems. (Though I don't know Python very well)

I would say that in this industry a large part of the job involves trial and error. In part because there are often multiple ways to do things, you'll always be trying to make things as efficient as possible and sometimes you'll just flat out not know how to do something despite how skilled you are.

A good developer isn't necessarily someone who knows every function or every way to do something, but rather someone who knows how to find the answer via the resources available to them. As mentioned by others, Google is a powerful tool in this industry and it's one of the few where it is not only accepted, but encouraged to be used on the job.

On that note, I would say don't get discouraged. Every developer has been where you are it's being able to seek out information and push through mistakes that will define you as a developer. I have no doubt that you will do great!

I think if you don't get stuck, you probably aren't learning anything. The important thing is how resourceful you are in finding the solution.

To me finding a workable solution is the fun, enjoyable part of programming and the source (pun intended) of accomplishment.

I find that for many challenges I'll go through the various methods that Jackson mentioned. Generally I'll start with reading the manual section for the concept/syntax/feature that is needed (RTFM), then I'll code it up in either my editor (Pydev/Eclipse) and/or terminal/console/idle. Along with general searches that end up with various pages including StackOverflow and other programmers explaining concepts. Reading through these pages sometime are good and sometimes not that great, but still adds to the learning.

Probably anyone who can just zip through the challenges without any difficulty, doesn't really need the course.

So, chill, enjoy the journey and have a I'm not giving up attitude because getting something to work is like crack and you'll chase the high forever (or so it appears from watching shows like breaking bad) hehe