Show HN: I made 30 apps this year and I'm 15 • Hacker News Board

Re: Show HN: I made 30 apps this year and I'm 15

#11

Post by stasy » Mon, Dec 30, 2013, 6:17 PM UTC

Haul4ss wrote: post #5

Wow, you've certainly been productive! How was your experience with the Microsoft Store and getting apps approved? What language did you write all the games in? How much code got reused between the games (I noticed a number of them appear to be skins on top of the same underlying concept).

I used JavaScript to make the apps. The only thing that was difficult about getting approved was making it support touch and keyboard inputs. Other than that, it was pretty easy.

Re: Show HN: I made 30 apps this year and I'm 15

#12

Post by kumarski » Mon, Dec 30, 2013, 6:17 PM UTC

Well done. Keep going and creating stuff. Be sure to talk to your users as well.

Wish you the best.

Re: Show HN: I made 30 apps this year and I'm 15

#13

Post by jmduke » Mon, Dec 30, 2013, 6:18 PM UTC

Jesus, this is impressive.

When I was fifteen, I'm pretty sure my main accomplishment was hitting level 40 in Halo 2 matchmaking.

You will probably get lots of valid and actionable advice about branching out to new platforms, focusing on one or two apps, or trying something new -- but more than anything else, keep building things! You've clearly got a ridiculously high level of aptitude and passion.

Re: Show HN: I made 30 apps this year and I'm 15

#14

Post by jawns » Mon, Dec 30, 2013, 6:20 PM UTC

stasy wrote: post #10

InTheSwiss wrote: post #6

Good job! Have you look into Android apps? You will have a bigger audience. I am assuming you are using C# as they are Windows Store apps if so Java will be very similar for you to switch too.

It is mostly made with JavaScript. I really liked making apps on Windows 8 because I can use languages I already knew from making websites.

You might be interested in PhoneGap (http://phonegap.com). You use HTML/CSS/Javascript to build the apps, and then Phonegap compiles them to work on multiple platforms, such as Android, iOS, Windows Phone, and more.

Re: Show HN: I made 30 apps this year and I'm 15

#15

Post by chromejs10 » Mon, Dec 30, 2013, 6:21 PM UTC

Kudos for learning to program at such a young age. It'll give you a leg up when you decide to get a job or start a company and need funding. However, I'd suggest taking some time and working on the quality and originality of the apps over the sheer number of apps that you can churn out in a year. A number of the apps seem almost identical. You want to get known for high quality apps and not as someone who just fills the app store with small apps.

Re: Show HN: I made 30 apps this year and I'm 15

#16

Post by primitivesuave » Mon, Dec 30, 2013, 6:23 PM UTC

Look for a summer internship. Clearly you're passionate about this, you should look for some real-world exposure to propel you to that next level of software engineering. Best of luck to you!

Re: Show HN: I made 30 apps this year and I'm 15

#17

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Dec 30, 2013, 6:25 PM UTC

jawns wrote: post #14

stasy wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is mostly made with JavaScript. I really liked making apps on Windows 8 because I can use languages I already knew from making websites.

You might be interested in PhoneGap ( http://phonegap.com ). You use HTML/CSS/Javascript to build the apps, and then Phonegap compiles them to work on multiple platforms, such as Android, iOS, Windows Phone, and more.

[deleted]

Re: Show HN: I made 30 apps this year and I'm 15

#18

Post by ovechtrick » Mon, Dec 30, 2013, 6:28 PM UTC

Awesome!! Great seeing young people being creative/learning and building. Keep going! :)

Re: Show HN: I made 30 apps this year and I'm 15

#19

Post by DaveSapien » Mon, Dec 30, 2013, 6:29 PM UTC

Totally impressive!!! You have a bright, bright future ahead of yourself!

Re: Show HN: I made 30 apps this year and I'm 15

#20

Post by mooreds » Mon, Dec 30, 2013, 6:29 PM UTC

jawns wrote: post #14

stasy wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is mostly made with JavaScript. I really liked making apps on Windows 8 because I can use languages I already knew from making websites.

You might be interested in PhoneGap ( http://phonegap.com ). You use HTML/CSS/Javascript to build the apps, and then Phonegap compiles them to work on multiple platforms, such as Android, iOS, Windows Phone, and more.

I think PhoneGap/Cordova (the open source base of PhoneGap) can be great for certain types of apps, and it definitely leverages your existing skillset. Here's a showcase: http://phonegap.com/app/

That said, I've never done a game with PhoneGap, and I'd worry about performance (for certain types of games)--I definitely worry about performance with javascript maps, which is closer to what we do). Just something to be aware of.