Slashdot Asks: How Did You Learn How To Code?

Last week Apple's CEO argued that computer programming should be a 'second language', and that it should be a required subject for all students starting in 4th grade. But a large number of professional programmers didn't learn how to code in a formal school program, either because they're self-taught or because they learned on the job. There's a lot of abstract discussions about the best ways to teach coding, but if there's any group that's uniquely qualified to answer that question, it's the Slashdot community.

So leave your answers in the comments. How did you learn how to code?

Comments

Star Trek

[dwywit]

I first saw code on an Apple II - the Star Trek game.

I read an introduction to programming, and proceeded to modify the Star Trek game to not decrement the photon torpedo count whenever I fired one - ditto energy levels for shields and phasers. After a while I wrote a bouncing ball game, similar to pong.

Some time after I left school I found myself as the sysop for an IBM System/36, and I would play around with the application software source code to see how it worked - not the actual source code, of course - I made a copy to play with. The IBM programmer's and reference manuals are quite comprehensive and from there I was able to take on the source code maintenance and development roles. It was mostly RPGII, with a little bit of BASIC. Then we moved to an AS400, RPGIII, RPG400, and SQL.

hungry

[ebonum]

In the 1990's if you were a fresh grad with 80K in student and credit card debt, USD200 to your name and not a soul on earth to help you, coding for 30K a year was a way to put food into your stomach. The offer looked even better with no gas money to get to the next interview. Doesn't matter if you've never written any code. Any fool with a solid IQ and a fire under his ass should be able to get good at coding pretty quick ( finding out about Scott Meyers, Erich Gamma, Fowler, Aho, et. al. early on helped. Need to buy all those guys a beer one day. They saved my ass. )

How I learn't to code:

[TechyImmigrant]

Books!

First: The Apple ][ Basic Manual.
Second: Rodney Zaks, Programming the 6502
Third: Jeffrey Stanton, Apple Graphics and Arcade Game Design

38 years later my bookshelves are heaving.

Re:On an ALWAC IIIE

[Guy Harris]

For those curious about the machine, here's the manual.

I don't code

[myowntrueself]

I hate programming/coding. Trying to think how to write a program makes me feel disoriented and nauseous.

In the various 'autism' tests I've done I've come out as massively 'heteronormative', this may be connected.

And I certainly wouldn't want to force my kid to learn to code, especially not as young as 4th grade. I'd find that almost as disturbing as forcing him to do religious studies or gender studies.

Don't make coding compulsory, it suits a particular kind of mind. First let the mind develop, find what it likes to think about, then get the kid to learn into those areas.