You didn't? Sorry. Sucks to be you.
I didn't learn programming when I was 12
41–50 of 85 posts
Re: I didn't learn programming when I was 12
#42I am one of those who started with building a computer from scratch when I was 12ish. By the time I was 18, I thought that I was way behind and needed to learn marketing, business, finance, etc, if I wanted to do startups.
Here's the perspective at more than twice your age: Success isn't going to be determined by when you started learning something, but by whether you learned it once you realized you needed it.
There is no school in the country that is going to teach a course in your business, because every business is different.
Success comes to those who work hard and improve and will teach themselves whatever they need to learn.
If your interest in entrepreneurship means a string of 120 failed lemonade stands, then you're already well ahead of nearly every biz school graduate in the country.
If it has meant sitting on your butt wishing you were rich since you were 12, then nothings going to happen until you change.
Learn programming- its valuable. More valuable is learning to teach yourself what you need to do what you want to do.
That's the key to success.
Re: I didn't learn programming when I was 12
#43The theory goes that in order to get good at something (anything), you need to put in about 10000 hours (5 years of full-time work). I would venture to add that probably, age has some influence in that the age edges (very young/old) are less effective towards that goal than your prime work age, simply because when you're young, you likely lack guidance and foundation/education and when you're old, you learn more slow…
It is ~10,000 hours of concentrated practice[1] to gain a mastery of a field. It is not just 10,000 hours of doing something (over and over). That is the rub, you can code for years and years and years and gain nothing from it unless you are constantly challenging yourself and trying to up your skill level, surrounding yourself with people that can teach/challenge you and always striving to get better (i.e. never tel…
Very true, the only projects I've genuinely learned from were the ones that I didn't have a clue how to solve at the beginning.
Re: I didn't learn programming when I was 12
#44I'm 17 and started teaching myself Python last year when they told me the course at my school was cancelled since only 5 people enrolled. I was incredibly disappointed. I wanted to learn programming because I love computers (of course), but also because I had very few things I attempted to master of my own volition. I felt that much of what I did was fragmented, satisfying an external pressures to succeed in all my academic subjects, nothing I could call a passion. It was a smack in the face when my school wouldn't support my desire to connect with something meaningful.
Fortunately, I picked a hobby that really accommodates self-learning and did as much coding as I could on top of school. Now I'm picking up web programming, looking into using Django and building my own site. What programming really brought to me was a new sense of mastery that originated with personal interest and drive. I think this feeling is what the latter part of the blog started to get at. It overrides any insecurity against geniuses or whatever because you'll be too proud of putting in your own work and too proud of your progress to worry.
Re: I didn't learn programming when I was 12
#45People are already telling you that eighteen is not too old to learn programming. And they are correct. People start at forty and fifty. I have a different point to make. There will always be someone smarter than you. Someone who started younger, learned faster, accomplished more. They're smarter than you are now, and they'll probably always be smarter than you. Just get used to that as quickly as possible and move o…
I feel that there is a still stronger form of the argument out there. Or maybe it's closely related. It incorporates what you just said as well as the fact that intelligence != social status. If I could figure out how to properly word it, I would be quite a ways ahead of where I am now.
Re: I didn't learn programming when I was 12
#46The theory goes that in order to get good at something (anything), you need to put in about 10000 hours (5 years of full-time work). I would venture to add that probably, age has some influence in that the age edges (very young/old) are less effective towards that goal than your prime work age, simply because when you're young, you likely lack guidance and foundation/education and when you're old, you learn more slow…
It is ~10,000 hours of concentrated practice[1] to gain a mastery of a field. It is not just 10,000 hours of doing something (over and over). That is the rub, you can code for years and years and years and gain nothing from it unless you are constantly challenging yourself and trying to up your skill level, surrounding yourself with people that can teach/challenge you and always striving to get better (i.e. never tel…
True, thank you for the correction.
Re: I didn't learn programming when I was 12
#47I'm 19 and I started learning at 14 and even I feel like I wish I started earlier. Even now, I'm not the best out there. My biggest problem is making developer friends. Being self taught and living in London where everyone just wants to party all the time is a little bit difficult for me.
Re: I didn't learn programming when I was 12
#48Programming is not a race with one winner. There are a ton of programmers making 6 figures, and the distribution of possible incomes for someone who can program and ... has no real upper bound.
You are very unlikely to be the second coming of John Carmack, but you can still have a plenty good life. Welcome aboard, start your learning curve, and keep it going.
There is only one big tip that I have. A level people like to hang out with A level people while B level people like to hang out with C level people. The difference? B level people want to be the smartest person around and stop learning. A level people don't care about the label and want to be around other smart people.
Re: I didn't learn programming when I was 12
#49i can summarize this as blablablabla. frankly i don't care.
i had people studying computer science in the university that had never seen a computer from the inside. do i like it? no. does it matter? no.
i'll crosspost from another hackernews thread:
“Nothing is withheld from us what we have conceived to do.”
the real question is do we have to blog about everytime we decide to go the toilet? well, i don't think. but people obviously disagree. hence the twitter popularity
Re: I didn't learn programming when I was 12
#50I'm 19 and I started learning at 14 and even I feel like I wish I started earlier. Even now, I'm not the best out there. My biggest problem is making developer friends. Being self taught and living in London where everyone just wants to party all the time is a little bit difficult for me.
London has plenty of events for developers, you just get out and find them.