How I Got Started Programming.Posted by james on August 10th, 2008
Hot topic for developer blogs right now, figured I’d throw my 2 cents in.
How old were you when you started programming?
I had my first experience with programming oddly enough when I was with the boy scouts, at summer camp in 93, so when I was 13 to get some kind of computer merit badge. Funny thinking back on it, I was at a summer camp, but I chose to be inside playing on a computer! It was only BASIC, but I caught onto it really quickly, and ended up doing things more advanced than what the class had called for.
How did you get started in programming?
I pretty much always enjoyed the thought of creating something on the computer, so I began to create AOL member homepages, with all sorts of clichéd animated gifs and fonts (Brooklyn kid anyone? It’s so hip-hop). While I was doing that at home, I was taking a computer class in high school in which used basic as well, and like summer camp, got my projects done quickly and ended up doing more than was required.
What was your first language?
As vie stated already, my first language was BASIC, but my real first language that I started to really do things with was C++, which I actually started with my first year at college (I had been doing HTML websites, but I don’t really consider that a programming language)
What was the first real program that you wrote?
I guess the first real one that I wrote, that actually could do something really functional was my final project for my C++ class, in which I had an input file of weather information for 5 years, and I had to sort it via user input for a variety of options, I’m pretty sure I was the only one in the class that got an A one it (brag brag), but it was a moment in my programming career that really gave me some confidence in what I was doing.
What languages have you used since you started programming?
I’ve used PHP for an e-commerce site for a friend, C/C++ for my first real programming job, C#, VB, VB.NET, and I’m now getting into Ruby on Rails.
If you knew then what you know now, would you have started programming?
I would’ve started earlier on learning patterns and practices. I think the best thing about being a developer is that you are always getting to work with new tools and practices, unlike marketing or something where it’s more or less the same thing all the time.
If there is one thing you learned along the way that you would tell new developers, what would it be?
Don’t be afraid to admit you don’t know something or how to do something. When you’re new, you have to know that you don’t know everything, and not be afraid to ask an older person. There were numerous times at my jobs where I spent way too much time trying to figure something out, finally asking a coworker on how to approach an issue, and learning something new that almost immediately solved the problem. The best thing I experienced was that through these discussions with co-workers we’d talk about even more things programming related, therefore learning even more.