How I Got Started In Programming

I always enjoyed playing with technology and looking through the Internet for interesting sites and articles. When I was in middle school, I had a huge urge to create my own game. I had played various types of computer games before, and this pushed me to create my own. Instead about thinking of creating massive, online 3D games, I simply wanted to create a simple 2D shooter or sidescroller, or some other game that I could work on in my spare time. I browsed the Internet looking for game creators that I could use to accomplish this goal. After a few months of downloading tools and trying them out, I realized that none of them suited my needs. However, soon I came across programming.

When I was thirteen years old, I came across a website called CProgramming that had many C and C++ tutorials. I knew little about this at first, but I assumed that it would help me accomplish my goal - to create my very own game. And so I started learning C++ from the tutorials there; in a few days I came across topics such as control statements, variables, loops, and input and output. Although I knew little about programming at first, these C++ tutorials sparked my interest in the subject and drove me to learn more.

I tried to program a game with the little C++ knowledge that I had, but the farthest I got was creating a small text game that ran on a DOS window. It was kind of disappointing for me at first, but creating programs was especially fun for me at this point and I continued on.

Every day I learned more about the subject, and every week or so I would try to write a new game, although the games only consisted of black and white text. I didn't expect creating games to be like this. Game creators that I previously used such as BYOND and Legendary Tales Editor provided me with user-friendly tools for creating my games; I had a graphics editor (a very simple one) and I could configure some of my game settings at the click of a button. But, with C++, the only factor that determined the result of my game was the code, which I was in complete control of. Anyway, I furthered my knowledge of C++ month after month, and I was gradually gaining more experience with both the language and with programming as well.

There was a lot that happened between that winter of 2006 and now (as of this writing, it is May 2009). I can't recall much of happened during this time, but I do remember that I've learned a lot in these three years. After a year of C++, I looked into other programming languages including Python and Visual Basic. Last year in mid-May of 2008, I became interested in web development and started creating websites. During that time I learned about HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and server scripting. Right now I'm still involved with web development, using PHP and MySQL to create interactive, database-driven websites and web applications.

I've gone from browsing the Internet to creating games, from creating games to developing software, and from developing software to developing websites. I'm not completely sure what I'll come across next, but I know that one day I'll graduate from college and start my career in the technology industry.