The Structure and Interperetation of Computer Programs will teach you to think more clearly about the fundamentals of computation and programming. A free PDF is

The Structure and Interperetation of Computer Programs will teach you to think more clearly about the fundamentals of computation and programming. A free PDF is here: http://web.mit.edu/alexmv/6.S184/sicp.pdf http://web.mit.edu/alexmv/6.S184/sicp.pdf It is foundational though: you won't likely write lisp in real life. Good books to read about practical software engineering are sold here: https://pragprog.com/ https://pragprog.com/ I'd start with The Pragmatic Programmer. By copy-pasting things, you've gotten yourself into a habit of just banging things until they work. Now, you should approach things from a scientific prospective: try to understand why they work, then write something to test that understanding. Build coherent and clear mental models.