Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Di klub pemrograman itu, kami belajar memahami logika dasar dan menulis kode singkat. - In that programming club, we learn to understand basic logic and write short code.

Di klub pemrograman itu = In/at that programming club
You use di before a place noun: di rumah (at home), di sekolah (at school), di kantor (at the office).

A couple of related forms:

di dalam klub pemrograman itu = inside that programming club (emphasizes “inside”)
pada is also a preposition but is more often used for time or abstract things:
- pada tahun 2020 (in the year 2020)
- pada kesempatan ini (on this occasion)

So di klub pemrograman itu is the natural way to say in/at that programming club.

Why is itu placed after klub pemrograman, not before, like English “that programming club”?

In Indonesian, demonstratives like ini (this) and itu (that) usually come after the noun:

klub pemrograman itu = that programming club
buku ini = this book
mobil itu = that car

So the pattern is:

noun + ini/itu → this/that + noun

Itu here is not a separate “that” clause; it is directly modifying klub pemrograman, specifying that particular club (not just any programming club).

Why is kami used instead of kita? What is the difference?

Indonesian distinguishes two kinds of we:

kami = we (excluding the listener)
kita = we (including the listener)

In this sentence:

kami belajar… implies we (the people in the club) learn…, and the person being spoken to is not part of that group.

If the speaker wanted to include the person being addressed as part of the learning group, they would say:

Di klub pemrograman itu, kita belajar…
= In that programming club, we (you and I, all of us) learn…

So kami is chosen to show that the learning group does not include the listener.

How can there be two verbs in a row: belajar memahami? Is that like “learn to understand”?

Yes. Belajar memahami literally corresponds to learn to understand.

In Indonesian, certain verbs can be followed directly by another verb without untuk (“to”). Belajar is one of them:

belajar memahami = learn to understand
belajar menulis = learn to write
mulai belajar = start learning

You could also say:

belajar untuk memahami logika dasar

This is grammatically correct but sounds a bit more formal or slightly heavier. In everyday Indonesian, belajar + verb without untuk is very common and completely natural.

Does this sentence mean “we learned” or “we are learning”? How is tense shown in Indonesian?

The sentence:

kami belajar memahami logika dasar dan menulis kode singkat

is tense-neutral. Indonesian verbs do not change form for past/present/future. The time is normally understood from context or from time words.

Possible readings:

We learn / we are learning… (habitual or present)
We learned… (if the surrounding context is past)
We will learn… (if the context clearly refers to the future)

To be more explicit, Indonesians add time markers:

Past:
- Kemarin di klub pemrograman itu, kami belajar memahami…
  (Yesterday in that programming club, we learned to understand…)
- Kami sudah belajar memahami… (We have already learned to understand…)
Ongoing/progressive:
- Sekarang kami sedang belajar memahami…
  (Right now we are learning to understand…)

So by itself, belajar does not mark a specific tense.

Why is it logika dasar and kode singkat (adjective after noun), and not dasar logika or singkat kode like in English order?

In Indonesian, adjectives normally come after the noun they describe:

logika dasar = basic logic
kode singkat = short code
rumah besar = big house
buku tebal = thick book

So the standard pattern is:

noun + adjective → adjective + noun in English

Be careful with dasar logika:
That structure is more like the basis/foundation of logic (both dasar and logika can be nouns there). It changes the meaning:

logika dasar → basic logic (logic that is basic)
dasar logika → the foundation of logic (the basis on which logic stands)

Similarly, kode singkat is the natural way to say short code.
Singkat kode would be ungrammatical as a descriptive phrase.

Why doesn’t the sentence show plural or articles (a/the)? How do klub, logika, and kode work without them?

Indonesian generally does not use articles like a/an/the, and does not mark plural on nouns in the same way English does.

So:

klub pemrograman itu can mean:
- that programming club
- the programming club (that one)
logika dasar can be understood as basic logic (no need for “the”)
kode singkat can be short code or short codes, depending on context

Plural can be shown if needed, but it’s not always required:

kode-kode singkat = short codes (clearly plural by repetition)
beberapa kode singkat = some short code(s)

In most natural contexts, a bare noun like kode singkat is enough; whether it is singular or plural is understood from context.

In belajar memahami logika dasar dan menulis kode singkat, why is belajar only in front of memahami? Does it also apply to menulis?

Yes. In:

kami belajar memahami logika dasar dan menulis kode singkat

the verb belajar logically applies to both memahami and menulis:

we learn to understand basic logic
and (we learn) to write short code

Indonesian often avoids repeating the same verb when it’s shared:

Saya suka makan dan minum.
(I like to eat and (to) drink.)

You could repeat belajar:

kami belajar memahami logika dasar dan belajar menulis kode singkat

This is grammatically fine, but it sounds a bit heavier and less smooth. The original sentence is more natural.

What exactly is pemrograman? Is it a noun like “programming,” and why is it formed that way?

Pemrograman is a noun meaning programming (the field/activity of writing programs).

It is formed with the peN- … -an nominalizing pattern:

Root: program
With peN-…-an: pemrograman

The N in peN- changes shape depending on the first consonant of the root (assimilation), which is why you see pemrograman, not something like pemprograman.

In general:

peN- + verb + -an → a noun referring to the process/activity/field
- mengajar (to teach) → pengajaran (teaching, instruction)
- menulis (to write) → penulisan (the act of writing, spelling)
- memrogram (to program) → pemrograman (programming)

So klub pemrograman literally means programming club – a club whose focus is the activity/field of programming.