09-18-2018, 06:30 PM
It was 1999. I had registered into a Pascal and a C++ programming course. I was good at using "the computer" but couldn't code (other than editing the occasional bat file). I hadn't even started learning algebra in school (but had been taught it at home).
The first day, they said we'd be learning how to make "hello world" and then delve into variables, arrays, loops, and functions. It went fast and it made sense. The C++ course started off with this and then immediately started teaching object-oriented-programming. It was a bit tough.
Within a couple weeks, I had made Pong, airline booking system (with graphical seat selection), a car simulator, and other stuff.
I felt powerful.
At the same time, I started copy-pasting Javascript code into HTML pages I'd make for offline use (I made a searchable, sortable database of all the CDs I had ... ... I think I had about 300). Then, I put up some pages on AngelFire, Geocities, and Tripod -- free webpage hosts.
The first time I got into server-side programming was with PERL - probably sometime in the year 2000. It was a weird time where server-side code was being written in many different languages with a decent number of scripts in C, but the majority were in PERL. I found a PERL script for a contact form. I followed the instructions, putting it into the /cgi-bin/ directory, and it worked. I looked into the file and saw a bunch of dollar signs. It looked weird but ... weirdly familiar. I didn't do much PERL coding myself but often found snippets of code that I spliced together. I was working with Javascript way more than PERL. So when I came across PHP in 2001, it immediately felt like home: basically Javascript and PERL's baby.
I fell in love with PHP. It had good documentation and since it started getting more and more popular, it was easy to find code snippets and forum posts asking questions that I had.
In 2001, I was using Microsoft Frontpage to make websites. I knew HTML but found this much easier. There was Dreamweaver but it was too fancy for my needs and required a steeper learning curve. I used Microsoft Frontpage to build the very first version of RuneScape Help (Zybez). As I got better at HTML, CSS, and Javascript, I abandoned Frontpage and entirely relied on Notepad.
By the end of 2001, another beautiful thing happened: I came across mySQL database. I was familiar with Microsoft Access and Excel before, so my idea of "database" was very narrow. mySQL was magical and it worked really well with PHP.
In 2002, I took a Programming class in high school: Visual Basic. It was childsplay. I finished the 6-month course within a week, and then spent the remaining 5+ months building a top-down-view 2D flat RPG: complete with items (e.g. keys, weapons, food), wielding/inventory, projectiles/shooting, different NPCs with varying levels of intelligence, rooms/areas, puzzles, and an awesome boss at the end. All of this was done in Visual Basic. The other students in the class played this game every day and pestered me for updates daily. Thanks to this, I got pretty good with Visual Basic and made a RuneScape client app (for the purpose of world-switching) which I think I never released. I was beaten by others (RsToolkit, SwiftSwitch/SwiftKit, etc. - there was one predecessor to these two that slips my memory) I did make a world-switcher in Javascript which I used myself. I can't remember if I shared it with others or not. It was probably the first world-switcher made by anyone.
Since then, I have only kept up to date with PHP, mySQL, HTML, CSS, and Javascript -- and those too, barely. If I had more time, I'd spend it building challenging websites and tools, such as a browser-based game or mobile apps. (I did start making browser-based games a couple of times but, due to lack of time and expertise, gave up on them).
Programming has been awesome. It has reconfigured my brain and I have become more logical/analytical due to it. I pay more attention to detail. And I see potential for efficiencies everywhere.
I think Programming should be a subject taught from elementary school onwards, alongside subjects like Maths and Science.
The first day, they said we'd be learning how to make "hello world" and then delve into variables, arrays, loops, and functions. It went fast and it made sense. The C++ course started off with this and then immediately started teaching object-oriented-programming. It was a bit tough.
Within a couple weeks, I had made Pong, airline booking system (with graphical seat selection), a car simulator, and other stuff.
I felt powerful.
At the same time, I started copy-pasting Javascript code into HTML pages I'd make for offline use (I made a searchable, sortable database of all the CDs I had ... ... I think I had about 300). Then, I put up some pages on AngelFire, Geocities, and Tripod -- free webpage hosts.
The first time I got into server-side programming was with PERL - probably sometime in the year 2000. It was a weird time where server-side code was being written in many different languages with a decent number of scripts in C, but the majority were in PERL. I found a PERL script for a contact form. I followed the instructions, putting it into the /cgi-bin/ directory, and it worked. I looked into the file and saw a bunch of dollar signs. It looked weird but ... weirdly familiar. I didn't do much PERL coding myself but often found snippets of code that I spliced together. I was working with Javascript way more than PERL. So when I came across PHP in 2001, it immediately felt like home: basically Javascript and PERL's baby.
I fell in love with PHP. It had good documentation and since it started getting more and more popular, it was easy to find code snippets and forum posts asking questions that I had.
In 2001, I was using Microsoft Frontpage to make websites. I knew HTML but found this much easier. There was Dreamweaver but it was too fancy for my needs and required a steeper learning curve. I used Microsoft Frontpage to build the very first version of RuneScape Help (Zybez). As I got better at HTML, CSS, and Javascript, I abandoned Frontpage and entirely relied on Notepad.
By the end of 2001, another beautiful thing happened: I came across mySQL database. I was familiar with Microsoft Access and Excel before, so my idea of "database" was very narrow. mySQL was magical and it worked really well with PHP.
In 2002, I took a Programming class in high school: Visual Basic. It was childsplay. I finished the 6-month course within a week, and then spent the remaining 5+ months building a top-down-view 2D flat RPG: complete with items (e.g. keys, weapons, food), wielding/inventory, projectiles/shooting, different NPCs with varying levels of intelligence, rooms/areas, puzzles, and an awesome boss at the end. All of this was done in Visual Basic. The other students in the class played this game every day and pestered me for updates daily. Thanks to this, I got pretty good with Visual Basic and made a RuneScape client app (for the purpose of world-switching) which I think I never released. I was beaten by others (RsToolkit, SwiftSwitch/SwiftKit, etc. - there was one predecessor to these two that slips my memory) I did make a world-switcher in Javascript which I used myself. I can't remember if I shared it with others or not. It was probably the first world-switcher made by anyone.
Since then, I have only kept up to date with PHP, mySQL, HTML, CSS, and Javascript -- and those too, barely. If I had more time, I'd spend it building challenging websites and tools, such as a browser-based game or mobile apps. (I did start making browser-based games a couple of times but, due to lack of time and expertise, gave up on them).
Programming has been awesome. It has reconfigured my brain and I have become more logical/analytical due to it. I pay more attention to detail. And I see potential for efficiencies everywhere.
I think Programming should be a subject taught from elementary school onwards, alongside subjects like Maths and Science.