[smt88]

I started charging for software development at 14. As I've said elsewhere, it didn't have any effect on my career whether I was charging for the work or not. Everything I did as a teenager was only valuable because I kept having to learn new areas of programming.

> more valuable a few years of goofing off

That depends on what "goofing off" is. Is it socializing and developing interpersonal skills? Because wild success hinges much more on interpersonal skills than it does on being the best programmer.

[hpvic03]

Socializing in high school != socializing in an industry.

I think you'd learn more about how to socialize with adults in an industry by hanging out with them... at work. And these are the people you want to get along with anyways.