Tech enthusiast studying ICT and graduating soon enough👨🏿🎓. Software Engineer in the making, experimenting my way through life. I'm here to connect, learn from y'all and share my knowledge.👊🏿
I'm in my upper-30s now, but start programming at age 13, and was building circuit boards at age 12.
As I said, I encourage learning, and the younger they start the better. The earlier you start, the more you can learn and the more areas you can explore. Shouldn't we be encouraging them to learn and explore (both in tech as in social skills) while they are young so that when they are more mature they can make better decisions and be the best devs they can be?
Then I probably wouldn't be a highly successful tech now over two decades later.
If it worked out for you, then great! What advice do you have for a teen that is trying to start with development and monetize it at the same time?
I've been coding for over 20 years now! (WOAH, do I feel old)
I've touched just about every resource imaginable under the Sun (too bad they were bought out by Oracle)
2) Who cares about code. That's not important initially. Instead, focus on unique problems you face, and then build solutions to them. Sometimes those solutions include software, but not always. And then, share your solutions with others.
In the late 90's, early 2000's, we didn't have the multimedia capabilities we do today. We didn't have smart phones. We didn't have much by way of laptops. We have big ass tower workstation desktops. I just so happened to have a high end sound card with an infrared remote, and I wanted it to work with Winamp, the MP3 player of choice back in the day (remember, this predates the existence of YouTube entirely, let alone any music streaming services [okay, yes, we had di.fm, but THAT PLAYED THROUGH WINAMP]) - So, I learned just enough to make that remote work, then made the Winamp plugin and shared it with the world. From there, I was asked to work on more Winamp physical device interaction plugins, which one day ended up being a full suite that started winning various awards and $$$ contracts from hardware vendors.
I never thought much of anything at the time. I was just having fun, playing music, without having to touch my computer. It was THE FUTURE!
And I'm seeing similar innovation come out of teenagers today, too. Some are creating games, other movies, and in some instances, I saw an operating system!
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We're a place where coders share, stay up-to-date and grow their careers.
As I said, I encourage learning, and the younger they start the better. The earlier you start, the more you can learn and the more areas you can explore. Shouldn't we be encouraging them to learn and explore (both in tech as in social skills) while they are young so that when they are more mature they can make better decisions and be the best devs they can be?
If it worked out for you, then great! What advice do you have for a teen that is trying to start with development and monetize it at the same time?
Its as simple as this....
1) Have fun.
2) Who cares about code. That's not important initially. Instead, focus on unique problems you face, and then build solutions to them. Sometimes those solutions include software, but not always. And then, share your solutions with others.
In the late 90's, early 2000's, we didn't have the multimedia capabilities we do today. We didn't have smart phones. We didn't have much by way of laptops. We have big ass tower workstation desktops. I just so happened to have a high end sound card with an infrared remote, and I wanted it to work with Winamp, the MP3 player of choice back in the day (remember, this predates the existence of YouTube entirely, let alone any music streaming services [okay, yes, we had di.fm, but THAT PLAYED THROUGH WINAMP]) - So, I learned just enough to make that remote work, then made the Winamp plugin and shared it with the world. From there, I was asked to work on more Winamp physical device interaction plugins, which one day ended up being a full suite that started winning various awards and $$$ contracts from hardware vendors.
I never thought much of anything at the time. I was just having fun, playing music, without having to touch my computer. It was THE FUTURE!
And I'm seeing similar innovation come out of teenagers today, too. Some are creating games, other movies, and in some instances, I saw an operating system!