Ask HN: How did your passion for computer stuff start? - 321yawaworht
======
ian0
As kids we embarked on a quest across a (small) country, to my cousins house,
to collect a copy of Doom 2. We were so excited we took turns holding the
floppy discs on the bus home.

When we finally got there and installed it, it ran at about 2 frames per
second. My friend didn't let it phase him. He played it in slow motion for
weeks in my attic. Shoot. Wait. Wait. Missed. Shoot again. Wait Wait...

I couldn't take it, and eventually learned about autoexec.exe & config.sys,
about the different types of memory etc. Trying to get games like this to run.

Even from the outset its been a battle of hate & love :P

------
AngeloAnolin
My fascination with computers started when I watched the movie Hackers (1995)
[1]. I just liked the idea of the underdogs upping the ante over their well-
funded bureaucrats and being smart and stubborn. Even though this was rather a
bland movie (by today's standards), I appreciate the fact that this movie
pushed me into the realms of software and computers in general.

[1]
[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113243/](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113243/)

~~~
jetti
Hackers was one of the two movies that got me into development. The other was
Antitrust (2001) [1]. I ended up taking AP Computer Programming in high school
that year (back when it was C++) and had dreams of going to UIUC and starting
a startup in the garage with my good friend.

[1]
[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0218817/](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0218817/)

------
emeraldhearts39
I fell in love with computers under serendipitous circumstances -- I was
pretty lucky that I went to the only hackathon near me in my freshman year of
high school. I ended up loving it so much (I made a meme generator at the
event) that I wanted to create a hands-on coding club at my school, which only
continued to fuel my love for code as I found a community of young coders when
I started my school's chapter of Hack Club. After the club began, my peers at
my school and I finally felt like we had a group of students excited about
code and its impact, leading us to create many coding initiatives in our
relatively under-served community.

After us, 3 other Hack Clubs popped up, and it's been magical to see them
hosting school hackathons and summer camps. I really hope that this continues
so we can show more students what pushed us into the wild coding world!

------
ConcernedCoder
The local arcade got a Pong machine, then later, a Lunar Lander, and many
others as they came out.

I went from playing pinball, to video games, and fell in love with it all. In
about the 7th grade I started to design my own games, working out how they'd
play and the layout of screens ( on graph paper...lol ) etc...

Later I earned enough cash to get an Apple II+ with all the programming
manuals it came with, and spent most of my highschool nights recreating games
I'd played and designing new ones in Basic and then eventually 6502 assembly.

Without money for college, I spent my 20's working odd jobs and continued to
program on the side. Eventually I got my foot in the door at a national news
paper's budding computer department, writing help files and documenting all
the existing systems... and worked my way into web development from there.

------
mgraybosch
I grew up poor and didn't want to spend my adult life that way. So I got my
hands on a used computer and some tools, and learned to code.

I'm only in it for the money.

~~~
dronescanfly
Didn't grow up poor, still in it for the money. Every other benefit that comes
with it ( highly flexible workibg hours, intelectually teasing tasks) are just
bonuses on top. Can't remember I ever wrote a line of code that hasn't been
paid for (except whilst studying)

The one thing that pushed me to follow this path was a joy for pc gaming, an
enthusiastic teacher and income per profession rankings showing that computer
science pays quite well.

------
tonyedgecombe
Playing moon landing on an old TI programmable calculator[1].

From there I used to travel into the Computing Teaching Centre in Oxford
University on weekends to write BASIC on a CTL Modular One[2]. I had no idea
of the significance at the time but I met Tony Hoare[3] there on numerous
occasions. It was a friend who got us in, I think he just knocked on the door
and said can we play with your computers and remarkably they said yes. I was
14 or 15 at the time.

The first computer I owned was an Acorn System 1[4], 1KB RAM, 512 bytes ROM
and a 7 segment calculator display. I had to work through the summer holidays
picking fruit to pay for it. I spent countless hours hand assembling code for
it, I think the biggest project I did was a Forth like language.

[1]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TI-57](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TI-57)
[2]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Technology_Limited#Th...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Technology_Limited#The_Modular_One)
[3]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Hoare](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Hoare)
[4]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn_System_1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn_System_1)

------
ggregoire
A guy took control on my computer when I was 12. He opened a Matrix-stylized
chat window (black background, green font color) and started to talk with me.
He told me I had a trojan and than I should clean my computer. Then he
restarted my computer to show me what he could do.

After this event, I learnt how to clean and tweak Windows. I started searching
and comparing programs. I installed Firefox, adblock, an antivirus and a
firewall, etc. I remember also asking my parents if I could open the computer
to see how it works. It's also the period I started to spend a lot of time on
forums. I discovered MMORPGs. Then I built my own gaming computer and made a
basic website about the game I was playing.

------
beckler
When I originally went to university, I went for music because I thought it
was fun.

However, I was terrible at my music classes because I didn't enjoy many of
them. Theory, conducting, and just doing scales all day. At some point I was
determined to turn things around, and I decided to build an excel spreadsheet
to help figure out what I needed to make in order to bring my grades up.

This was when I discovered VBA for excel. I had never programmed before, but I
thought it was such a fun challenge. So I ended up making this over-engineered
gradebook for my classes... At the end of the semester my grades were awful,
but I changed schools, got my GPA back up, and changed my major to CS.

------
richardthered
Grade school. I learned that computers followed rules. And if you learned the
rules, you could make it do interesting things.

My classroom was the first class in the school to get a computer. At the time,
nobody knew how to work the things, so instead of rotating around all of the
different classrooms each week, it was left in our room for half of the year.

During that time, I got to use it a lot and became more fluent on it than the
teacher. Eventually, a local news crew came to do a story on this rollout of
computers in the classroom, and I got to be on local TV showing the reporter
how to do stuff on this 'new technology'.

I learned that not everyone 'got' computers like I did.

------
zanedb
I've been coding since I was about 10, though not well. It was more messing
around with computers and playing video games. I think I was mostly interested
once I discovered all the things computers could do - but I didn't know how to
do them.

Around the time I was looking to get serious about coding, my friend mentioned
he attended a sort of code club. I was immediately curious and looked it up.
It turned out to be run together with Hack Club[0], an organization helping
kids run computer science clubs internationally. Unfortunately, I didn't go to
his high school (and there wasn't one at mine) so I was unable to attend his
coding club. However, I could still join the Hack Club Slack[1] where I've
been helped by many (and have begun to help others).

I'm looking forward to starting a Hack Club at my high school this upcoming
school year, and hope many more can have the experience I had, sooner. I don't
work for Hack Club but can personally recommend them.

[0]: [https://hackclub.com](https://hackclub.com)

[1]: [https://slack.hackclub.com](https://slack.hackclub.com)

------
rwieruch
I was always into "computer stuff", but nothing serious where I could earn any
money (gaming > programming). So the programming part, where I ended up in the
end as software developer, took off very late for me.

I studied computer science, but didn't really know why I did it. I learned
about all this programming syntax, solving smaller problems, but it was always
difficult for me grasping the bigger picture. But there was one seminar for
half a year which open my eyes: Distributed Systems. Suddenly the bigger
picture, having webservices, IOT or mobile devices, made so much more sense to
me. Everything is connected with an API and not till then the acronym made
sense for me. After the seminar I saw this huge potential in programming,
because everything could be connected. That's when I started to develop
serious interest in programming. If you are interested about it , you can read
the whole story over [here]([https://www.robinwieruch.de/what-is-an-api-
javascript/](https://www.robinwieruch.de/what-is-an-api-javascript/)).

------
midnightmonster
I don't think I have a passion for "computer stuff", but I really enjoy the
craft of programming (and related application design and experience design and
general hacky problem solving).

When I was a kid, home computers were barely a thing. We had one, but I only
played with it. I thought maybe I'd grow up to be an architect. I took a few
programming classes in middle school (logo and basic), but I started messing
around with web pages in high school in the late 90's--mostly for publishing,
since I liked to write and draw. JavaScript code was relatively small and
rarely obfuscated then, so I learned a lot by reading the source of pages with
cool layouts or effects. Haven't stopped since then.

Turns out there's a whole field where you can design things to solve problems
or create experiences and make them come into being just by thinking about
them carefully (and writing down your thoughts). The feedback loop for
satisfaction and learning is very tight compared to architecture.

------
BlackjackCF
I was 5.

My dad was really into electronics and got a Windows 95 for home use. He
insisted that my sister and I learn how to type.

He also made the fatal mistake of sharing the MechWarrior 2 and MechWarrior 2:
Mercenaries CDs that came with our computer with me. I popped them in and got
hooked. So I learned how to type, but I also developed a huge love for video
games.

Basically, the rest of my childhood was spent thwarting the various ways my
parents devised to try and lock me out of using the Internet/playing games.
The more my parents tried to keep me off the computer, the more I wanted to be
on.

My fascination with video games also made it so I wanted to learn to program.
I learned some basic control flows in C++ at 13. Never really went much past
that, because I started working in technical theatre and lighting, and spent
more of my time programming lights and setting up lighting networks.

Picked it back up again in college, when I started taking game development
classes and having to build stuff in Unity and GameMaker.

------
BjoernKW
It started with the C64: Games and the ability to quickly create something of
your own with BASIC.

Interestingly, with the web it was quite similar: "View > Page Source" and the
ability to quickly learn and create something yourself really fascinated me
about the web. Accessibility in my opinion was one of the key aspects that
really made the web take off.

------
dnel
My uncle was the computer guy of the family. I remember playing on his Amstrad
1640 when I was very young. I always wanted a home computer desperately but my
dad never had an interest or saw it useful to encourage my passion for it. It
wasn't until my uncle eventually upgraded from his 8086/640KB Amstrad to a
Pentium 60 then he gave me the old Amstrad and I was hooked. This was probably
about 96/97 so this was already vintage hardware and my attempts to run
anything contemporary was frustrating, but that didn't stop me trying to
squeeze out every drop of performance from the old beast. I had it for many
years and eventually my experiments in trying to get more out of it broke it
and it went to the tip. I could probably have repaired it easily just a few
years later but I guess that's the tragedy of youth. I'm tempted to buy
another 1640 to remember those days but I know it would never be the same.

------
stevekemp
My parents moved house when I was around 11. I suspect as a result of the
recent house-purchase my parents basically bought one christmas present for my
two sisters and myself: A 48k ZX Spectrum home computer.

The computer came with ~10 casette-tapes, a casette-player for loading them,
and the computer itself. Unfortunately the casette-player we received in our
bundle was broken. Which meant that we couldn't load any games.

So I read the manual instead, and experimented with programming in BASIC. A
week later, or so, (all the shops being closed around Christmas time in the UK
back then), we had a working system. My sisters played games, and while I did
too I was hooked on programming.

A few more details here:

[https://blog.steve.fi/how_i_started_programming.html](https://blog.steve.fi/how_i_started_programming.html)

------
rpeden
My dad got us a TRS-80 from Radio Shack. We used out TV as a monitor. I
remember typing in games in Basic, and then saving them to an audio casette so
we could load them up again later.

That was my first taste of a computer, and of programming. And I've loved both
ever since.

------
Humdeee
I must have been 6 or 7 with Windows 95 at home and I double-clicked that
mysterious black and orange hazard icon on my dad's desktop. Duke Nukem
proceeded to captivate me, then I blinked, and now I'm over 30.

~~~
omegbule
Same here, it started when I found Duke Nukem's Penthouse Paradise and Leisure
Suit Larry 6 on my dads PC.

------
debacle
The amount of money I could make not doing computer stuff was quickly eclipsed
by the amount of money I make doing computer stuff.

------
johnnycarcin
Wrote a post about this awhile back, easier to just link to it instead of copy
+ paste :)

[https://esheavyindustries.com/2017/01/i-owe-my-career-to-
bei...](https://esheavyindustries.com/2017/01/i-owe-my-career-to-being-a-
script-kiddie/)

------
EADGBE
The birth of my daughter combined with an affinity for HTML/CSS and website
creation combined with a realization that what I was originally setting out to
do in life (music) just wasn't going to work the way I had anticipated.

I'm really glad it worked out the way it did. I enjoy this a lot more than I
ever could have thought.

------
tudelo
Well, I had a grandfather who owned a print shop and had an extra computer. He
gave it to my family when I was 9 and then I discovered Runescape and have
been hooked on computers ever since. My first real foray into programming was
through making mods for a game called Toribash.

------
Canada
I was interested when I got my first computer for sure, but when I got my
first modem I was hooked.

------
Terribledactyl
Oregon trail on an apple 2 in kindergarten.

Then taking apart my parent's IBM work computer to see how it worked, mostly
got it back together..

Found a book on basic in the library around age 8 and was hooked.

------
psalminen
Myspace in middle school. Looking at the themes and editing them turned into
creating my own own one-page website. It showed me the complete control you
can have with a computer.

------
gnode
I had computers in the house since I was born, as my dad was a software
engineer. I started programming in QBASIC, trying to make games.

------
amorphous
in the 80s a friend dragged me into a department store where they sold PCs. He
typed into one "10 Print Hello; 20 Goto 10" and pressed return. What I saw on
the screen seemed like magic to me and I got hooked since then. Later got my
own VC20 and spent most of my time with that piece.

------
8bitsrule
Writing simple programs was a blast. Then I learned they could be simply
interfaced to external circuits.

------
raysarebest
I've always been the kid who was into technical stuff. Before I was in
elementary school, I would insist that my dad let me help put together my Hot
Wheels tracks and such. On a rainy day when I was 8, I had locked myself in my
room to avoid my family, and I was lucky to have a computer to myself there. I
turned my focus for that day towards it, and I wondered how it worked, so I
googled "How to code". The first result that came up at the time (circa 2006)
was
[https://www.cprogramming.com/tutorial/c-tutorial.html](https://www.cprogramming.com/tutorial/c-tutorial.html),
and an hour or two later, I had learned the basics of my first programming
language.

I didn't really care that much about computers at the time, though. Over the
years, I became a power user of Windows, iOS, and macOS, but I was way more
into sports, particularly baseball. After a while, though, I became the fat
kid that all the pitchers liked to hit, and when the pitchers started learning
to throw 80 MPH fastballs in early high school, I decided I needed a new
hobby. That's when I started getting serious about understanding code and
becoming a developer.

I bounced around free tutorial after tutorial online, and I ended up with a
solid understanding of how to make a static website. I saw a few ads between
YouTube videos for a more cohesive online coding school called Treehouse, and
they were running a promotion at the time where if you bought one of their pro
subscriptions, they'd give one for a year for free to a public high school
student. I thought to myself, "Hey, I'm a public high school student. I wonder
how I can get on the receiving end of that?", and so after some googling, I
found their CEO's email address, and asked him. He got me set up with that,
and I've been hooked ever since. I taught myself everything from the web
front-end to scripting languages like Python to mobile development. Nowadays
I'm a moderator on their community forums, supporting myself as a freelance
iOS/web developer.

In high school, I was also really into the technical clubs I had available to
me. I went for the majority of my Junior year to a high school in suburban
Philadelphia, where I joined the robotics club, which got pretty much all my
attention and passion while I was there. There was also a computer science
club there, too, which was part of the Hack Club family of high school coding
clubs. I loved that club, too. It was a great time to stop worrying about the
stresses of they day/week before, and just sit back and work and learn about
code with other people who're into it. I enjoyed it so much that when I went
back to my former high school in suburban Nashville for my Senior year, I
started another Hack Club there, too. Since then, I've pretty well known what
my life's passion is, and now I'm trying to use it to start a career.

Treehouse: [https://teamtreehouse.com](https://teamtreehouse.com) Hack Club:
[https://hackclub.com](https://hackclub.com) My website:
[https://hulet.tech](https://hulet.tech)

~~~
megaman22
Oh boy, treehouse... I did most of my girlfriend's treehouse training for her
new job, the parts that weren't on google word-for-word. She's something of a
legend at her company for finishing those CSS snd JavaScript modules so fast.

------
saintPirelli
Games

~~~
megaman22
It's the gateway drug. Gaming (at least used to) gets you into save-file
editing, then into modding, then into programming.

Not to mention all the general IT fiddle-frigging that was involved in making
games run, or fixing your PC after something went disastrously wrong with
that, and you needed to get it back in a working state before the parents
noticed that you'd broken the computer...

~~~
saintPirelli
Yes, all of that, but particulairly because I want(ed) to make my own game(s).
I actually took a detour via 3D modelling (Blender) for gaming and then
becoming interested in writing my own Python scripts, so I learned how to code
and forgot all about my original aspirations with Blender.

------
mrdebugger
<script>alert(1);</script>

