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Unread 08-04-2010, 02:12
timothyb89 timothyb89 is offline
code monkey
FRC #1977 (Loveland High Robotics)
Team Role: Alumni
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Rookie Year: 2009
Location: Loveland, Colorado
Posts: 45
timothyb89 will become famous soon enough
Re: How Did You Learn How To Program?

I started tinkering with HTML and the like in about 4th grade and went from there. By 5th grade I had started toying with PHP and by seventh I taught myself Java. I'm pretty sure I went that direction due to the lack of C/C++ books at the local bookstore . No complaints though, I think it's a ton easier to experiment with Java than C, especially on Windows due to the number of easily-usable tools.

Around this time I had also discovered Linux. Once you get basic system usage down its not too long before you figure out how to hack bash/perl/python/ruby/etc code if thats the route you want to go down.

This year I formally took a C class which helped a bit (my C skills were a bit rusty, and still are)- it was a ton of fun, and myself and some friends ended up spending our free time inventing new ways to deliver Rickrolls to people . By the end we made sure the entire class knew about them (including the teacher!)

But I think the biggest drive towards learning was books (I've managed to collect quite a few!), and most importantly, boredom. Lots and lots of it. Where else would you find time to experiment with all of this?
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