Where did you start in coding languages?

[Cedric]

So, what’s the story behind your coding skills?

I thought it would be interesting to start a discussion about our coding journeys and explore where we all began with programming languages. It may also be helpful to people like me who want to get into it but don’t know how. Whether you're a seasoned developer or just starting out, we all have a unique story to share about how we embarked on this exciting coding adventure.

So, let's dive in and answer the question: "Where did you start in coding languages?"

For some of us, it might be a classic tale of learning the ropes with HTML and CSS, building our first websites and experimenting with different designs. Perhaps you recall the thrill of creating your first "Hello, World!" program and realizing the endless possibilities that coding could offer.

Others may have dived straight into the world of object-oriented programming, embracing languages like Python or Java as their initial choice. Maybe you were drawn to the logical and structured nature of these languages, or you found them to be a perfect fit for the type of projects you wanted to pursue.

On the other hand, some of us might have taken a detour into the realm of scripting languages like JavaScript or PHP, seeking to add interactivity and functionality to our websites or web applications. These languages can open up a whole new dimension of possibilities and bring dynamic features to life.

Alternatively, maybe you started your coding journey with a specialized language like R for data analysis, Swift for iOS app development.

No matter where you began, whether it was with a specific programming language or a combination of multiple ones, we want to hear your story! Feel free to share your experiences, challenges you faced, and the lessons you learned along the way. Did you find your first language to be intuitive or challenging? Did it shape your preferences for future languages and projects?

Remember, this discussion is not about which programming language is the best or the most popular. It's about appreciating the diversity of our coding journeys and gaining insights from each other's experiences. Who knows, you might even find someone who started their coding journey in a similar way as you!

So, fire away and let us know: where did you start in coding languages?

 

[Tyrsson]

I started with html, css.... Building MySpace profile codes for friends of mine actually.... That quickly lead to html/css and my first "website". Which quickly lead to me finding SMF and forums. Which, eventually allowed me to become a team member for SMF which gave me access to very skilled people and resources to help me advance my skills in Php/MySQL/Html/Css etc. Php, is itself a very OO language. I would go so far as to say any new projects today in php should Definitely use the OOP approach because of the diverse ecosystem of libraries/frameworks/tools available to not only speed your development but to also make your code more solid.
I have worked full time in the field. It ended up causing me to leave the field for years. Thankfully I have found my way back and have started doing freelance. A lot less stress and I get to work on what I want to work on, when I want to work on it, since I have a day job that pays the bills it allows me to just work as I want in development. When I was working full time I have built software for companies as large as Regions Bank and Roush Fenway Nascar team.

 

[Jamie]

Well, I'm absolutely not certain about this one! I started from around the age of ~10 (It's now more than 20 years later... crikey.)

In all likelihood it was probably HTML (not CSS at the time). I remember tinkering on a website very similar to Geocities and being proud of changing some text colour or setting the background to a big ol' picture of a dragon 😅

Around this time I was also trying to learn how to make games too - as that's what I wanted to do as I got older. I'd found a tool called Game Maker and was trying to learn C++ (using a book that I still have today: Teach yourself game programming in 24 hours). While I never had any real successes making any games it did give me a good start in programming so I learnt a lot of concepts early on.

Then came the forum era from 04/05 and here is where I really fell into web design and development as a whole. I started out just making graphics but then I remember being inspired by the skins being made on Invisionfree and wanting to give it a go. And because I spent so much time doing that, I just naturally started to find my way more and more into web dev as I got older. I remember running a local copy of IPB using WAMP (I think?) - I'd say I probably learnt a lot early on just trying to understand the source code for IPB. I have some old projects where I tried to make a Gaming Clan CMS and you can really see the influence it had on me. If there's one thing I recommend for bettering your understanding though, its reading source code for other open source projects and trying to understand the flows.

It's probably the forum era that shaped who I am today most of all tbh. I now freelance in PHP/Node/React/Vue and build saas projects on the side all thanks to those early days learning how to skin (and the dream of being a game developer has long since gone!).

 

[Tyrsson]

people like me who want to get into it but don’t know how.

Set you up a local development server and start coding. It's really that simple

 

[Cedric]

Set you up a local development server and start coding. It's really that simple

I have yet to go in on your invitation. I haven’t forgotten, it’s the time that is getting in my way at the moment. So I’ll be making some time next week!

 

[Tyrsson]

I have yet to go in on your invitation. I haven’t forgotten, it’s the time that is getting in my way at the moment. So I’ll be making some time next week!

Well the link is only good for a month so if it expires before you have a chance to sign in then let me know. If you would go ahead and sign in then you could just pop in whenever you have time lol...

 

[Arantor]

I started aged about 6 on a ZX Spectrum, and we had a bunch of books with type-it-in-yourself programs (as was very common back in the day), as well as being in the 1980s, it was still the era where these books were just making their way into thrift stores, so that's my beginning, typing these things in and experimenting.

1990, got an Amiga for Christmas, learned how to program in a couple of different languages on that, then sometime in the mid 90s migrated to QBASIC for DOS, experimented with HTML in 1998, swapped mostly to Visual Basic by 2000 for desktop stuff, picked up SQL in 2001, ASP Classic in 2002, PHP in 2003, and the rest as they say is history.

 

[Cory]

I started using HTML and CSS on InvisionFree to create announcement boxes, tables, index pages, etc. I was dying to learn JavaScript and I could never understand it, but once ZetaBoards came along jQuery was attached to it. Through jQuery, I started learning more and more JavaScript. I can build a lot of vanilla JavaScript codes at this point, but there's still a whole lot of JavaScript I don't necessarily understand that well, probably especially some ES6 stuff.

 

[Karinama]

Well, I'm absolutely not certain about this one! I started from around the age of ~10 (It's now more than 20 years later... crikey.)

In all likelihood it was probably HTML (not CSS at the time). I remember tinkering on a website very similar to Geocities and being proud of changing some text colour or setting the background to a big ol' picture of a dragon 😅

Around this time I was also trying to learn how to make games too - as that's what I wanted to do as I got older. I'd found a tool called Game Maker and was trying to learn C++ (using a book that I still have today: Teach yourself game programming in 24 hours). While I never had any real successes making any games it did give me a good start in programming so I learnt a lot of concepts early on.

Then came the forum era from 04/05 and here is where I really fell into web design and development as a whole. I started out just making graphics but then I remember being inspired by the skins being made on Invisionfree and wanting to give it a go. And because I spent so much time doing that, I just naturally started to find my way more and more into web dev as I got older. I remember running a local copy of IPB using WAMP (I think?) - I'd say I probably learnt a lot early on just trying to understand the source code for IPB. I have some old projects where I tried to make a Gaming Clan CMS and you can really see the influence it had on me. If there's one thing I recommend for bettering your understanding though, its reading source code for other open source projects and trying to understand the flows.

It's probably the forum era that shaped who I am today most of all tbh. I now freelance in PHP/Node/React/Vue and build saas projects on the side all thanks to those early days learning how to skin (and the dream of being a game developer has long since gone!).

I remember when we used to collab on coding themes for Reverie's old board if I'm not mistaken. I think you were the "Coding Manager" and I was on your moderation team. Hard to remember. I think you ended up inactive and then I had to take over, lmao! I think that's when I really started going in to it heavy,

I started out with HTML way back in the day and then CSS and then JS. Didn't really dive deep until the golden forum era that Jamie was referring too. There were a lot of great forum designers, but not a lot of people to code them, so I picked up that slack, so we could produce some bangers, I did a lot of TokyoDrift's designs back then. After all of that, life took over and I kind of fizzled out.

 

[Jamie]

You might be thinking of someone else - either that or I've forgotten! I remember being on Atrium, not sure that I was ever in a coding position or not. I was thinking I was admin for a little while but even that I'm now doubting!

 

[Karinama]

You might be thinking of someone else - either that or I've forgotten! I remember being on Atrium, not sure that I was ever in a coding position or not. I was thinking I was admin for a little while but even that I'm now doubting!

You might be right, I honestly can’t remember. I remember you being there, making some themes for the board and then I made some themes for the board… and that it was a pretty fun run while the board lasted.

 

[Jason]

I liked those books on programming languages. I used to buy them at a local bookstore in the 2000s. Some of them said you could learn in 24 hours, but I don't know about that.

 

[Debashis]

In school and college I studied C and C++ in my Computer Science subject. But at work, I've learnt to code using Python to create automation scripts for the day to day activities I have to deal with which uses lots of measurement instruments.

 

[vbgamer45]

Went to a two week compute camp at the end of 7th grade got me interested in coding using Visual Basic. Was just so impressed how easy I could create my own GUI's I think that was around 1998. Parents got a copy of VB6 and just grew from there. Switched to mainly doing web stuff around 2004.

 

[Empire]

In school and college I studied C and C++ in my Computer Science subject. But at work, I've learnt to code using Python to create automation scripts for the day to day activities I have to deal with which uses lots of measurement instruments.

What's the hardest or code that you never would get into?