[bogwog]

I started when I was around 10, and made my first "game engine" in C++ at around 12 or 13. If anything, doing this type of thing when you're that young is easier (unlimited free time, and young brains probably learn things more easily). The only real barrier is interest/motivation.

[colechristensen]

>The only real barrier is interest/motivation.

My barrier at that age was just information. Obviously things have become much easier now.

Having windows 95 as your first OS made this particularly difficult and the Internet was what it was at that time.

It took me years to find the right questions to ask and the right information. What took me several years to figure out I have tought someone in an afternoon. (getting from 0 to a short roadmap to something functional).

[amatecha]

Yeah, I always wished so badly I knew an adult who was a skilled programmer. I borrowed books from the library but I would always hit a wall so early on, not being able to make sense of the concepts (and being on a Mac, which none of the books provided a compiler for). Looking back I know for a fact I could have grasped the concepts if they were explained a little more "gradually" for me, which a mentor-type person absolutely could have done easily.

[ShroudedNight]

Without mentorship / guidance, how are you supposed to know that K&R and / or Petzold (and maybe A. S. Tanenbaum?) are where it's at, and everything else is arguably a waste of your time? Almost every programming book I encountered seemed intent on making the computer appear mysterious and esoteric which did not help me feel empowered to explore.

[colechristensen]

I even got to K&R. Types, variables, input and output made sense to young me. Pointers made sense but I couldn't wrap my head around why, and then I was stuck with "what next". For years everything next I could find (like writing a windows application) was way over my head and any "step 2" was completely elusive.