People won''t believe me that I am thirteen, but I am, and if you don''t believe it, that''s ok. I got started in computers relatively late, when I was ten or eleven. I always was smart, and I always did know a bit more about computers than anyone else in my grade (I was getting confused at how there was such a small amount of memory, and such a big amount of hard drive). But then it all changed, early in the beginning of fifth grade...

My Dad''s friend from work had rented a three part video series about the history of computers. It had a comical approach to it (the title was something with nerds in it). I remember the first video was about the Altair, Bill Gates and Paul Allan, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, the creators of the first spreadsheet ever and the first word processor ever (sorry, it''s been a while since I''ve read Fire in the Valley). The second, as I remember it, was called "Riding the Bear." It was basically about how Micro$oft started becoming a big company by tagging along with IBM and other happenings in the 80''s. The third was something like "Kings of the Valley." It was about the current day millionaire computer nerds, including Bill Gates, Paul Allan, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, the head guy of Oracle, and a couple other people.

After that I was hooked for life (well, about 2-3 years so far). I told my dad that I wanted to start programming. He said that in the 80''s he bought an Epson and a book on BASIC. He couldn''t find it, however, and asked the database programmer at work on what I should start out with. The database programmer said that either Visual Basic or Java would be good.

I started out with Visual Basic, in one of those Macmillian "Beginning Visual Basic 6" or something like that. It came with a starter book and the learning edition of VB. It was ok, and I learned a bit of programming. At Christmas that year I got a book called Learn to Program with Visual Basic 6, by John Smiley. It is probably one of the best books for someone of this age, because it actually is of him teaching his students, which you begin to know by name, and the students asking questions.

But then I also got Game Design: Secrets of the Sages. It said that I should learn C++. I bought it in the Game Programming Starter Kit (horrible, don''t buy), and I got a PDF called Teach Yourself Visual C++ in 21 Days. Now, little did I know it pretty much required you know C++ first, so after much frustration, I bought C++ for Dummies. That is not a great book, but just what I needed.

So the moral of my endless rambling is: always make sure you have someone who knows their stuff help you out. Even just little things, like books that you should try or a little list of things that you should learn.

.elendil67

"Klick N Play" is not programming and will offer nothing for you if your goal is to learn programming.

C++ or QuickBASIC as the two choices that will get you going with learning real programming skills.

QB is free so you might as well get it and try it out. In the DevZone you''ll find numerous free C++ compilers as well.

Try them both and see which he takes to. If he goes with QB it won''t hurt him any. Everything I learned in QB I''ve used in C++ and every other language I''ve learned.

The way I got started in QB was by taking example projects and changing things to see what happens. The library will probably have some BASIC books that he can use to learn the language by example. I started with the intent of game programming because that''s what I wanted to learn how to do. I still make a game whenever I want to learn a new concept. It helps make the learning process more interesting.

Ben


IcarusIndie.com [ The Rabbit Hole | The Labyrinth | DevZone | Gang Wars | The Wall | Hosting | Dot Com | GameShot ]

I taught myself C when I was 11, so it''s possible. I wouldn''t recommend basic or even VB as a starting language at this point and time. ANSI C, Java or even C# are probably better alternatives to C++ (if you think C++ is too difficult.) Java and C# are nice because you don''t have to deal with some of the trickier aspects of C++ (memory management, pointers, etc.) and they also teach OO programming. If your kid isn''t interested in learning how to program, and just wants to make games right away something like flash, or "game making" software will work, but if he is considering game development as a profession he''ll have to learn how to program, unless he wants to be an artist or a sound guy, but it''s possible to make a good game without knowing how to draw (hence "programmer art"), but you need to do some kind of programming (even if it''s just scripting in a game maker.)

The main reason I would recommend QB over C++ is the ability to use graphics right away. Also, QB allows you to place text arbitrarily on the screen if you just want to make text based games. You can''t do that in C++ without getting at least into Win32 as well which is more than he should take on when just starting.

At the begining C++ is more of a burden to learning than a help. There was nothing C++ could do that QB couldn''t do better when I was first learning to program.

If you want to do games programming, C++ is out of your league until you''re ready to take on DirectX as well or at least Win32. You won''t be ready for that until you learn how to make games with simple graphics or text.

Ben


IcarusIndie.com [ The Rabbit Hole | The Labyrinth | DevZone | Gang Wars | The Wall | Hosting | Dot Com | GameShot ]

Hey there,

I started programming java-script when i was 9, and then moved on to c/c++ when i was about 12 (now 14). It really all depends on your child. If he is dedicated, focused, and has a lot of patience, C/C++ might not be a bad idea. Languages like java-script, that are based on C, are good to start with because they provide all the basics of C, but give faster better visual results.

¬_¬

quote: Original post by KalvinB
The main reason I would recommend QB over C++ is the ability to use graphics right away. Also, QB allows you to place text arbitrarily on the screen if you just want to make text based games. You can''t do that in C++ without getting at least into Win32 as well which is more than he should take on when just starting.

But QB is a little outdated (no offense to those of you doing QB development), Java is probably a better option. It''s pretty easy, maybe not as easy as QB, but easier than C++ (plus it''s definitely easier to get images, like jpgs and gifs on the screen) to get graphics on the screen, and it''s more modern, plus it teaches OO. I started with QB (quickly moved to C), but I''m not really a fan of it .

Actually Klick and Play is programming. It is a very high level programming language. Don''t comment on software you have not used please.

Java, yuck. I pity the foo who makes games in Java.

I''m 13 and I''m currently learning C++ (started pretty recently). As for the creative side, I already know photoshop VERY well, and flash a bit

"But QB is a little outdated"

QB was never "dated" to begin with. The purpose of BASIC is to teach the concepts of programming without the unneccary crap that will just overwhelm someone new to the craft. It''s not meant to be a serious language it never was. Although my dad turned a small business into a million dollar+ business by using QB to handle the DB over 10 years ago. It was the best choice for the job since the company had old 286s with monocrome monitors. The overhead of C++ would have forced unnessecary upgrades. He''s now doing SQL and Access with a large corporation.

Java is as complex as C++ if not more so. When first starting you shouldn''t have to care about public, private, void ect. You shouldn''t even have to care about functions or data types. It was quite a while before I used a function and yet managed to make game after game in QB.

"Languages like java-script, that are based on C, are good to start with because they provide all the basics of C, but give faster better visual results."

Yes, but you can''t actually do anything with it. Trying to make a game on a web-page is like trying to make a game with a type writer. It''s the same problem as C++ but with graphics. You don''t have the control needed to make a real game.

Ben


IcarusIndie.com [ The Rabbit Hole | The Labyrinth | DevZone | Gang Wars | The Wall | Hosting | Dot Com | GameShot ]