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September 25, 2008

How Did I Get Started In Software Development?

I am following the lead of many other software development blogs and answering the following survey questions that have been floating from blog to blog for a while now. Here we go...


How old were you when you started programming?
I think the first time I remember writing a program was in the 6th grade. I took a class where we did some programming in BASIC, but I didn't get hard core into programming until I was 18 in college. So I guess you could say I got a late start.

How did you get started in programming?
Going into college I thought I would give the Computer Science and Engineering department a try. I was intrigued at the thought of writing software so I took a leap of faith and it worked out for me.

What was your first language?
My first language was C. I learned it in my introductory programming course at University of Texas -Arlington. I think I just showed my youth there...

What was the first real program you wrote?
Hmm... I wrote many small Hello World programs as I learned C and C++, but the first meaningful program I ever wrote was in my second year of college. I had to write a program that was a discrete event simulation of the checkout process at a local Costco. I had to model the entire process and help determine the ideal number of checkout lines that should be open during peak hours. That was the first time I got the light bulb moment in my head and thought I might be pretty good at this.

*Side note* Obviously my results were never passed on to Costco or any other wholesale store as the lines are always so unbearable...

What languages have you used since you started programming?
Wow, I've used C, C++, VB, Perl, Java, C#, and even a little Groovy. I've somehow seemed to find myself in a position where people ask me if I can do something for them in another language and I can't make myself say no. I see the language being used as more of a tool because the actual business logic is the same regardless of the language used.

What was your first professional programming gig?
When I was in college I got hired to work in the IT department for the Army Corps of Engineers. I was able to work on some of the business applications they used in-house to work with data in databases. They were nothing big, just your basic CRUD applications.

If you knew then what you know now, would you have started programming?
Yes, I would still have gone into the software field. I just would have started my own company a long, long time ago. I think that would have saved me a lot of stress and put a lot more $$$ in my tiny pockets. ;-)

If there is one thing you learned along the way that you would tell new developers, what would it be?
Get the GoF design patterns book fast and learn it. This advice could have saved me a lot of time spent on refactoring and rework in the beginning of my career.

What’s the most fun you’ve ever had… programming?
That would be my senior design project back in my years as an undergraduate. We designed and built an automated baby monitoring device that included a motion pad, and A/V that could be automatically streamed to a remote computer if predefined settings were met. Those late nights in the lab only reinforced my love for this field.

That was a lot of fun. We often forget about those times when we are first introduced to something we enjoy and love. I know I had forgotten about a lot of things like that lately. I am slowly finding my way back to that and with that new ideas are coming. I am sure I will be sharing some of them soon. Stay tuned...