Basically, the way I learned it was something like:
1. Begin administering a message board and discover the need to learn HTML in order to avoid using the god-awful Microsoft Frontpage (awful in terms of generating unnecessary complexity).
2. Learn Java because I've always been interested in programming and it seems like a "hot" language.
3. Learn Javascript to make some elements of my webpages a little bit dynamic (on the client side, at least).
4. Begin a Computer Science major. The truth is that I really did not learn much from the class content itself, but from the projects we had to do, projects which involved a lot of independent work. So find some programming problem that seems interesting and program it in C/C++ (at least that's what I did :-).
5. Discover Lisp, code in Lisp, learn Lisp, vow to use nothing but Lisp (and maybe some Python) ever again.
6. Work for a company that uses nothing but a Unix environment (FreeBSD), and spend the summer upgrading to a new server. This involves looking at plenty of open source code in order to find out what's going on and why nothing is working right. Discover a loathing for PHP.
7. Install Linux at home. Learn Perl, and shell. Realize the amazing power of commands like find, xargs, and 'perl -e ...'. Note the convenience of having gcc and interpreters for Perl, Python, and Lisp at your fingertips.
8. Get started. The sooner you start programming, the sooner you will find yourself searching Google to figure out how to do x in language y. There is no easy road to hacking... you have to take the Nike approach. ("Just do it." Is that even their slogan anymore?)
Looking back, you could certainly avoid step 2. Step 4 is largely unnecessary as well, except that being forced to do projects is a good motivator to get you programming when you first start. If you can find your own motivation, then a CS major is not really much help. Step 5 is optional, but you should definitely learn something beyond the standard C/C++/Java that most people get stuck with. Step 6 was a great experience for me, coming from a strictly Windows environment, but skipping straight to Step 7 wouldn't hurt too much. I'm not trying to be a Linux zealot here, but open source, Unix-based platforms teach you a completely different way of thinking (problem-solution based) than the Windows mindset, and I think it's closer to the manner of thinking employed by your typical hacker.
Step 8 is the most important. Get started. Don't look for someone else to do your work for you. There is no substitute for hard work, so find something that interests you and start programming it in the language of your choice. If you only want to learn hacking in order to apply for YC, then you have already written yourself off as a non-hacker. Hacking is a means to an end in some ways, but not to that extent.
1. Begin administering a message board and discover the need to learn HTML in order to avoid using the god-awful Microsoft Frontpage (awful in terms of generating unnecessary complexity).
2. Learn Java because I've always been interested in programming and it seems like a "hot" language.
3. Learn Javascript to make some elements of my webpages a little bit dynamic (on the client side, at least).
4. Begin a Computer Science major. The truth is that I really did not learn much from the class content itself, but from the projects we had to do, projects which involved a lot of independent work. So find some programming problem that seems interesting and program it in C/C++ (at least that's what I did :-).
5. Discover Lisp, code in Lisp, learn Lisp, vow to use nothing but Lisp (and maybe some Python) ever again.
6. Work for a company that uses nothing but a Unix environment (FreeBSD), and spend the summer upgrading to a new server. This involves looking at plenty of open source code in order to find out what's going on and why nothing is working right. Discover a loathing for PHP.
7. Install Linux at home. Learn Perl, and shell. Realize the amazing power of commands like find, xargs, and 'perl -e ...'. Note the convenience of having gcc and interpreters for Perl, Python, and Lisp at your fingertips.
8. Get started. The sooner you start programming, the sooner you will find yourself searching Google to figure out how to do x in language y. There is no easy road to hacking... you have to take the Nike approach. ("Just do it." Is that even their slogan anymore?)
Looking back, you could certainly avoid step 2. Step 4 is largely unnecessary as well, except that being forced to do projects is a good motivator to get you programming when you first start. If you can find your own motivation, then a CS major is not really much help. Step 5 is optional, but you should definitely learn something beyond the standard C/C++/Java that most people get stuck with. Step 6 was a great experience for me, coming from a strictly Windows environment, but skipping straight to Step 7 wouldn't hurt too much. I'm not trying to be a Linux zealot here, but open source, Unix-based platforms teach you a completely different way of thinking (problem-solution based) than the Windows mindset, and I think it's closer to the manner of thinking employed by your typical hacker.
Step 8 is the most important. Get started. Don't look for someone else to do your work for you. There is no substitute for hard work, so find something that interests you and start programming it in the language of your choice. If you only want to learn hacking in order to apply for YC, then you have already written yourself off as a non-hacker. Hacking is a means to an end in some ways, but not to that extent.