Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Show HN: I'm 14, I learned Objective-C, and this is my first iPhone game

itunes.apple.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

111–120 of 191 posts

Re: Show HN: I'm 14, I learned Objective-C, and this is my first iPhone game

#111

Post by suhastech »

pooriaazimi wrote: post #24

I was writing/learning HTML with FrontPage 2003 and Flash 5 (6? 7? I thankfully don't remember anymore) when I was 14 - while knowing almost no English (thus, not understanding even what the menu items and controls mean!) and without a manual or teacher and just clicking around and seeing what happens to the code :-( Hard, hard times it was. But I enjoyed it nevertheless. But still, I'm jealous of you. If you were to…

Congrats to the OP!

Of course, there's always the birth lottery for most people reminiscing here. For people coming from the third world, this kind of a feat would be very rare to come by and won't be appreciated even if they do, as they are still tackling lower level problems. Heck, my parents don't even know I do on the computer. From where I come from, good grades are the best thing a kid could show to their parents.

Re: Show HN: I'm 14, I learned Objective-C, and this is my first iPhone game

#112

Post by maneesh »

tomatohs wrote: post #85
maneesh wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Heh, when I was 14, I published my first book: Game Programming for Teens, which eventually became an international best seller in 6 countries. I even got a monthly tv spot with Leo Laporte on what was then called Tech Tv. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdh5dqbvrDE And still...none of my games have ever been as cool as OP's. Great work man

Your book was the first I ever bought about programming. I don't think I ever wrote a line of code from the book but it illustrated basic programming concepts that inspired me to continue development. Very impressed to read that you were only 14 when you wrote it, as I was probably only 14 when I bought it.

Wow! That means so much! Thanks for that comment.

Re: Show HN: I'm 14, I learned Objective-C, and this is my first iPhone game

#113

Post by mjcohenw »

mhuffman wrote: post #53
gnarbarian wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Get off my lawn. I first learned HTML and JavaScript using Notepad in 96 when I was 14.

When I was 14, the only easily available microcomputer was the TRS-80. You couldn't save your programs (unless you owned a tape-player that saved files), it got 40 rods to the hogshead and that was the way we liked it!

When I was 14, I had to push the electrons around by hand. It was painful getting clobbered by those massive protons and neutrons. I eventually got around the problem by converting the particles to waves, so that they only tickled.

Re: Show HN: I'm 14, I learned Objective-C, and this is my first iPhone game

#116

Post by toutouastro »

suhastech wrote: post #111
pooriaazimi wrote: post #24

I was writing/learning HTML with FrontPage 2003 and Flash 5 (6? 7? I thankfully don't remember anymore) when I was 14 - while knowing almost no English (thus, not understanding even what the menu items and controls mean!) and without a manual or teacher and just clicking around and seeing what happens to the code :-( Hard, hard times it was. But I enjoyed it nevertheless. But still, I'm jealous of you. If you were to…

Congrats to the OP! Of course, there's always the birth lottery for most people reminiscing here. For people coming from the third world, this kind of a feat would be very rare to come by and won't be appreciated even if they do, as they are still tackling lower level problems. Heck, my parents don't even know I do on the computer. From where I come from, good grades are the best thing a kid could show to their paren…

where in the third world ?

Re: Show HN: I'm 14, I learned Objective-C, and this is my first iPhone game

#117

Post by olalonde »

Amazing work! I remember when I was about 15 I started selling my first software (a billing web app for shared hosting companies). I developed it in maybe one or two months during the summer, set up a website and started getting payments through Paypal. My English was so-so at that time and there were no Hacker News or StackOverflow. I remember one day suddenly realizing that "if"/"for"/"while" were actually English words.

Sales quickly averaged ~150$/day and despite that, my parents still wanted me to get a summer job (at McDonald's maybe) like "the other kids". I also had a computer usage quota and was often going over at my friend's house just to cheat the quota :). Looking back at those days, I think they just wanted me to spend more time with my peers. Anyways, I turned out fine!

To conclude, I truly hope your parents are supportive and if they are not, feel free to get in touch with me for advice (can't help with game development though, you are way more advanced than me).

PS: You have a bright future in front of you!

Re: Show HN: I'm 14, I learned Objective-C, and this is my first iPhone game

#118

Post by krzyk »

nirvana wrote: post #48
gnarbarian wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Get off my lawn. I first learned HTML and JavaScript using Notepad in 96 when I was 14.

When I was 14, you couldn't just go buy a "personal computer", as the minicomputer revolution was underway. So, I had to build my own computer... and I did. (I think I started at 13, and finished at 15). When I say, I built my computer, I mean I designed a PCB, laid it out, etched it, assembled it, then needed to build a display board to output to a TV, which was another several months of design, etc. And when I had…

"You buy a Mac and you get a fantastic IDE and development platform for free, etc."

Buy a Mac to hack on iPhone? I don't think that any IDE is so costly if you develop on any other phone.

Re: Show HN: I'm 14, I learned Objective-C, and this is my first iPhone game

#119

Post by knowledgesale »

nirvana wrote: post #48
gnarbarian wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Get off my lawn. I first learned HTML and JavaScript using Notepad in 96 when I was 14.

When I was 14, you couldn't just go buy a "personal computer", as the minicomputer revolution was underway. So, I had to build my own computer... and I did. (I think I started at 13, and finished at 15). When I say, I built my computer, I mean I designed a PCB, laid it out, etched it, assembled it, then needed to build a display board to output to a TV, which was another several months of design, etc. And when I had…

That is remarkable, yet the thread somehow more and more resembles this nice Monty Python's sketch: http://youtu.be/Xe1a1wHxTyo
Post reply on HN