Quote: "How old where you when you started programming?"
about 9 or 10, on the Atari 400 "computer" in Atari BASIC
Quote: "How old are you now?"
bloddy hell, dont remind me
(mid to late thirties, ok.)
Quote: "Did you have a parent or guardian who tought you?"
Not per se. My parents bought the computer and were trying to learn Basic for some reason
Then I came along, took over, and they got bored and went away - back to whatever they found interesting at the time.
Quote: "Did you want to program when you grew up?"
After getting completely hooked on that machine, and writing small silly programs, and eventually some nifty little games, yes, I wanted to be a programmer. At around 14 I found girls, music, and various controlled substances, and sorta fell out of coding until I was around 20 or so. I t was always in the back of my mind, but I used that time period to become fairly decent on 4 musical instruments (Drums, Guitar, Bass Guitar, and some Keys). The absense from coding during that period was good for two reasons: 1)I became a decent musician and learned a heck of a lot about music etc, and 2)I bypassed the sucky computers (ie 286, 386) lol. C'mon we all know things didnt get serious until the 486 cpu and the game "The 7th Guest" came along -haha
Quote: "What did you want to do as a programmer?"
Make video games, of course! But other things interested me too, modems and connecting to other machines was a unrealised fascination at that time.
Quote: "Did you succeed?"
Yes and no. Today I am a professional software developer, but I write applications and utilities, not games. But game programming is still a hobby of mine. And these days, a good game from a small group of dedicated people can get you places in a big way. Google: Nabacular Drop, as one example
For the past 5 years I have been lucky enough to be a self employed freelance software developer, where I take contract work from companies, but we skip all the W2 and insurance bs. They pay me an hourly rate in full, I handle/prepare all my taxes and expenses etc with my accountant. Tip: get a good accountant
Quote: "Did you or are you going to college?"
I went to college, but not for programming. I wanted to be a psychologist (lmao), then I thought I wanted to be a geologist (lmao again). Instead I settled for not graduating
Quote: "I have one more question for you loyal posters. I am trying to teach my 11 year old brother dark basic but all he wants to do is play video games all day. Am I wasting my time?"
Probably, but not definitely. If you are showing him theres a "how" to all of this video game madness, and he's disinterested, he may just stay that way, not everyone is destined to be a programmer. Then again he could "snap" over night, which isnt uncommon around that age. I guess just make the info available and if he at some point picks it up and goes forward then so be it. If not, then so be it. I was a bit different, I loved the games, and had no idea that the "how" was available (to some degree) among us normal joes. The second I saw BASIC I was hooked, and wanted to make games. Some people are just born to gravitate to those types of things I guess. Some kids today can be presented with all the tools and technology and never give it a second look - thats not a dig on today's kids, its just how it is. Some of us oldbies would kill for todays technology back then (circa early 80's) but we cant have everything.
My DBP plugins page is now hosted [href]
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