|
My dad, computer-savvy but not a programmer, taught me some very basics when I was in my early teens (late 90s). It happened to be in Java, but mostly amounted to printing text and if-statements, which could be in any language. From there I used the circa-2000 Internet to learn about programming, did some ultra-basic C and C++ Win32 programming. In high school I started making websites for friends, for tiny amounts of money. The frontend HTML was ultra-basic, but the backend was all in PHP with MySQL for storage and I wrote some fairly involved CRUD apps over years. At the same time, I was always working in the background on various video game engines, mostly in C++. Did a little homebrew work on the PSP[1]. The culmination of all that was a friend and I making a 3D platforming video game in C++ with OpenGL, completely from scratch[2]. Switched to Linux and started making my own desktop apps for fun and trying (mostly failing) to contribute to projects. The same year I finished high school, I got a "real job" as an intern doing Java-based QA programming, thanks to an uncle who worked there and knew they needed programming interns. After two years there, I got my current job doing C systems-level programming and now I've been here for over 12 years. I did go to a public US university to get a four-year Computer Science degree. It was a complete waste of time and money and is easily the biggest regret in my life. I was already working in industry before I even started college, for the first two years as an intern and then the other two years at my current position. I learned almost nothing in college and knew more about programming than most of my professors. I also had (and have) zero interest in computer science. It was just something I was told I had to do to get a good job. Complete waste. This was back when college was relatively cheap. I absolutely would not encourage anyone to go to college for the prices they are charging today. It's a scam. (This is all US-focused, no idea what the situation is like elsewhere.) As for books, Code by Charles Petzold (Microsoft Press)[3] is far and away the most useful programming book I've ever read. Anyone who does anything related to programming should read it. It walks you up from the very basics of computing all the way to modern computers in a very understandable way. I read it in early high school and it definitely shaped my career. [1] These two PSP games remain among the projects I'm most proud of in my life, https://www.brightnightgames.com/games.php [2] We mostly succeeded, not bad for a pair of high schoolers, I think https://www.brightnightgames.com/games.php?game=sa&sec=devel... [3] https://www.microsoftpressstore.com/store/code-the-hidden-la... |