Thread: Starting age

I started programming at the age of 13, and I can remember how naive I was. I used to think I could do anything with VB, when I never actually did anything productive. I was also a pretty slow learner; it took me a while to understand the concept of variables. You know, I actually made something that I dubbed "MatrixClone" with VB6; a completely stupid "console" that took me a couple weeks to finish and was very badly coded, yet I was proud that I had actually finished something.

Anyhow, the real purpose of this thread is to test a hypothesis of mine, neatly scribbled on my doodlepad next to my monitor:

Does the age at which you start programming affect your competance as a programmer later on?

Generally I think it makes no difference whether you start programming at 13 or 31 - if you can understand it, you can be productive at it.

So what's the general oppinion around here? How old were you when you started programming? What was your first language? Do you think it makes / made a difference?

And yes, I like to doodle while I'm waiting for something to download / compile etc.

I think the ability to learn decreases with age. That said, I believe you can learn new things as you get older, it just requires a bit more work.

I certainly believe a 31 year old could become a productive programmer, but someone who has been coding 20 years at that age will always be better.

Programming is not just about syntax etc. It is about solving problems, and an experienced programmer will have a large repotoire of ready solutions to problems in his/her portfolio simply because they have come up before.

I certainly think somebody that starts younger and does it for a longer period of time will be better than the person that starts later and has less experience.

As adrian said, the ability to learn typically declines with age, but anybody motivated enough at virtually any age should be encouraged to learn (whether it be programming or mechanical engineering).

I tend to think people get a tad too caught up with age...everybody wants to be the child prodigy programmer and write the next elite gaming engine in record time.

Originally Posted by BobMcGee123

I tend to think people get a tad too caught up with age...everybody wants to be the child prodigy programmer and write the next elite gaming engine in record time.

But truth hurts: Not everyone is a child prodigy....

So what's the general oppinion around here? How old were you when you started programming? What was your first language? Do you think it makes / made a difference?

Same as the guys above. I started HTML scripting when I was 12, I started some basic PHP programming when I was 15 and stopped a few months later, and I tried to learn to program for a GBA (C/C++) when I was 17 (but didn't know what a byte or binary or any of that was) and stopped less than a month later. I'm now 18, and around June 2 of this year I started learning C/C++ for real, but had stuff and stopped a month and a half later - and I've recently in the past week started programming again. I programmed (or edited scripts more rather) PHP off and on for a few years before learning C++. I don't think I learned enough in PHP to make a difference in my learning C++. But, I think being exposed to any scripting/programming gets you ready for errors and what to expect - where newbies might just quit because its different. I think what makes the most difference is actually wanting to learn this stuff. When I only wanted to program in C so that I could make a GBA game, all I did was edit other scripts I found and didn't really learn anything (I never knew what a macro was, but I had 20 of them). I've become determined to learn OO/C++ these past weeks and it really makes a difference. Simply wanting to learn and being determined to learn lots.

Bubba's a great game programmer and he's a friggin geezer.

As Dae, I have been HTML scripting since age 12. I started C++ in my late 13's(I'm now 15, almost 16). I actually started PHP after I had been doing C++. I'm glad I didn't start off with VB, even though a VB book lying around is what peaked my interest in programming.

>>I think the ability to learn decreases with age.
And i think it has been statistically proven.
But what i have noticed as i'm getting older (though i am only 18), i am able to understand and grasp the "whys" of concepts MUCH better. I think, indeed, you learn faster when you are younger. I do beleive, however, when you are getting older, you have much more wisdom and life experience to reflect on when you are learning, and so straightens the curve.

started programming in the 8th grade at the age of 13 or so.

My first language was Logo, and then I moved to BASIC. After a short interval of Visual Basic during the summer time I hit up C++ in the 9th grade and that has been my main language since that point.

I started programming around 8-9, well it was just BASIC, however I moved on the Visual Basic when i was older and learned pretty much enough to do a lot of things. Now I'm learning C++ at 17 (Well not 17 untell dec 18 ) So I don't know if being older makes it so you don't learn as much but I do know the more experince you have early on makes you a better programmer vs's say someone who has been doing it for 2 years and is the same age as you. You cannot sub. experince for age, learn while your young.

Well I'm not a 'geezer' but I've noticed my understanding of concepts and my skills in general are sharper than when I was younger. That is not because of age, but because of exposure. I've been programming for some time and I'm not going to say it because I don't want to sound like Mr. Sr. Software Engineer. Ok, I'm gonna get flamed for that, but oh well.

Here it is in general.
The more you play baseball, the better you become (unless you are hopeless)
The more you code, the better you become. (ditto)

I flunked Algebra and I lack calculus which really sucks, but I can still understand the math when presented to me. That's due to my own experience and research in 3D games and graphics. If it wasn't for good old fashioned reading, trial and error, and more reading....and more reading then I would have a hard time with it all.

Research. Research. Research
Read. Read. Read.
Code. Code. Code.
Wash, rinse, repeat about a billion times.

Even if you have a college degree in Comp Sci, technology changes all the time. What they taught you 10 or 20 years ago won't apply today. The math and all will but we all know that math in the classroom does not always make the exact same transition to computers. So we find...workarounds or more efficient ways to get the classroom result w/o all the classroom work. If we used the classroom example, Quake 4 would run at oh say 2 FPS. Even after college you will have to read and research to stay up to date. This stuff changes so fast.

That's why it's good to see companies beginning to state that having or not having a degree is not the issue. You can have the degree and yet not be able to solve the problems in code and/or think through them. Programming is about solving problems - and they are usually problems that have a specific solution that is catered to your program. So knowing the solution isn't even enough sometimes, you have to be able to apply it in your code.
No one is going to tell you exactly how to solve the problem in relation to your specific goals. And, in the case of game programming, usually the solution you create is 'similar' to someone else's, but not exactly the same.

Experience is really worth it's weight in gold, be it commercial, or hobbyist. Age doesn't matter but experience does. The two are not necessarily associated.

I do agree 100% but I don't want to totally undermine the value of having a degree. If nothing else, it shows you can put up with BS long enough to achieve something (a BS) which we all know is a valuable asset in any aspect of society. Knowing formal terminology makes communication much easier...the buzzwords don't have to make sense, but having some sort of similar lingo makes you seem more knowledgable . I went in for a programming job interview. I didn't know what rational databasing was, but once the interviewer started talking about it I listed cases where I had alread been using it in my own projects.

I still ultimately hate organized education with a fiery passion.