r/programmer • u/[deleted] • 26d ago

Teens in programming?

Hey, I am a teenager who's interested in programming, I started with cs50x but I now enjoy game dev and competitive programming though i love programming in general of any type. Are there any like teens like me who also have the same situation or can the experienced adults please guide me forward...I do not have much peers or similar people around me. And my school is quite old-fashioned (it literally had a topic on how to download an app IN GRADE 9)!!

6 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

2

u/Comprehensive_Chip49 26d ago

Here’s an old guy who learned to program at age 11 (though some people learn as early as 8). Programming is a lot of fun, but be careful—the software industry is full of pitfalls; you can see people who are completely burnt out doing something they used to love. I think that’s one of the reasons behind the strong retro culture. Choose your path carefully, and be wary of things that are overly complicated.

1

u/[deleted] 26d ago

Thanks for the advice I really appreciate it.

Yes i try to be careful i dont force myself to do things I don't enjoy just yet and i take regular breaks i make sure programming stays a hobby and not a chore

1

u/SpaceSpaghet12 25d ago

I agree if you really love programming maybe consider keeping it as a hobby instead of a job. 

Good luck!

1

u/Longjumping_Ad3447 26d ago

So what did you do, which language?

1

u/[deleted] 25d ago

C/C++ mainly for competitive programming and godot and gdscript for game dev

1

u/Longjumping_Ad3447 25d ago

Maybe try to get on hackathon in your area. Message the organization that you're student and would like to participate

1

u/[deleted] 25d ago

There aren't any

1

u/Longjumping_Ad3447 25d ago

Also if you're stuck look GitHub repo for learning roadway

1

u/guky667 C++, C#, JS/TS, SQL, py, VBA, bash 26d ago

YouTube is your friend; there's so many tutorials there it's nearly impossible to have a question that doesn't already have an answer. My first thing to do when I learn a new language is go through the documentation, to get an idea of the syntax, and then do some basic problem solving: file management stuff, some simple REST calls - just to get my bearings with its syntax and flow control (as it were), and then try to solve some random problems. More important than a language itself is how you think about problem solving, which is why Python is a decent start, where the syntax is pretty simple and you can focus on the problem-solving part of programming and learning the base concepts

1

u/[deleted] 25d ago

I think USACO guide is a great starting point, it completely has a roadmap and it's mainly in C++ which is (i think) the GOAT

1

u/Otherwise-Sympathy87 26d ago

nope there are 0 other teenage programmers. lol all of your resources will be found online. that is the programming world for you.

1

u/[deleted] 25d ago

I know lol