How did you guys learn how to code?

Logo and BASIC on an Apple IIc in elementary school. Then Pascal on PCs in high school. Fortran, C and C++ in college.

Schneider (Amstrad) CPC 464 manual:

https://archive.org/details/schneider-cpc-464-bedienungs-han...

Especially chapter 5 with all the nice graphics commands.

My first exposure to programming was on a Commodore PET, in BASIC. Back then you were expected to be able to write your own code if necessary. The facilities to run code were included in every computer, unlike now, where it's all apps from the app store.

If I had to teach someone from scratch now, I'd teach the basics of text editing, files, etc... then Python, something immediate mode, like BASIC was.

I started out making my own websites at about 12 or 13, when we moved to the US and got a computer. Then I got into making JavaScript browser games. Then I moved and got a job in games as a build engineer (which was more scripting-type and configuration work), and proactively took on more and more tools programming tasks from there to shape the job into a more programming-heavy role. After shipping my first game there, I joined the next game team as a tools engineer. I also made games and life simulations at home in my spare time. From there I ended up working in core tech, engine teams, backend development, etc.

So most of it was learned through hobby projects and on the job. I am especially grateful for a teammate who was a very thorough and strict code reviewer. He helped make me into a better programmer by meticulously considering and questioning every line of code I wrote.

High school in the 80s, I wanted to get the $50 Timex Sinclair self-assembly kit. After a back-and-forth with my parents, finally convinced them to get an Atari 400, though they really hated the membrane keyboard making it seem like a toy than a serious machine.

That was the best thing I ever got. All I had was the BASIC cartridge, Asteroids cartridge, and the intro to basic that came with it. I had no storage--that was the compromise for the step upgrade. It was a great lesson to spend literal days writing, refining, and perfecting a program. Only to eventually get bored "I wanna play Asteroids, poof." Eventually I hung around the right places, met folks, read magazines, learned machine-then-assembly language. Everything since then has been pretty easy building on all the low-level stuff. C, oh like assembly but more convenient. It was also fun to disassemble the games I got to see how they worked. Some of the worst games had the best copy protection--they must have thought highly of their creation.

Every computer since then has pretty much been a 'business machine', not nearly as much fun. Even the Atari ST with its M68k seemed very work-like. Lucky for me, I liked worky things too, learning the early Windows, OS/2, NT SDKs etc. The NeXTSTEP OS and Interface Builder blew my mind.