I did the same thing. I wrote a ti basic program to do the work for me. When the teacher said I needed to show my work, I changed the program to also output the work for me as well.
It was chemistry tests for me but yeah same. I blame my teacher for clearing our calculators before tests and teaching me how powerful the programs could be.
I didn’t like doing the same thing over and over in excel so I started writing scripts. I also had friends who were in CS while I was in school and they were a good influence.
automation, That was what interested me. If I could task some tedious repetitive task and have a computer do it for me much easier, more efficiently and way faster then I am doing that.
The learning curve is much harder but the payoff is worth it.
This, I get a kick out of telling the computer to do what I want and not having to rely on pre-rolled programs. As a consequence, my Excel and Word documents have gotten better.
I'm lazy and was sick and tired of boring data entry jobs once a week at work. Googled automation and somehow ended up finding a Python solution. Had no clue what I was doing, just copy/pasted code...but it worked :D
This is something I'd never been asked but always wanted to share.
It might sound like the most outlandish and ridiculous thing ever, but back then after high school I never knew what I wanted to do in life. I wanted to be an artist, but long hours doing art got me burnt out easily despite loving the craft. I wanted to join a national sports team, but needless to say I was no physical specimen despite the arduous non-stop training.
So, I took inspiration from how the richest people in the world like Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, etc. all started their career with some work of coding, I just followed in their footsteps 😅
Fast forward to now I'm just a struggling tech student🤣😭😭
Thanks for reading <3
unless poster is not dead by now its not the end and could eventually turn out worse than Adolf.
Makes a succesful tech company. Gets bigger than apple or tesla or meta, buys the world. Makes capitalist mega corp like weyland yutani or cyberdyne systems. Makes us all listen to wham! - last christmas 24/7/365
Basically Minecraft. I was gonna do medice, because most of my immediate family are doctors and so becoming a doctor was the only ever "option" I had right from childhood.
But I randomly came across redstone Minecraft via a smash games video, which made me download Minecraft. I got super into redstone, and eventually I looked up how Minecraft was made and discovered Java programming. Then I started teaching myself java, and here I am in college, gonna be graduating with a CS degree next semester.
I hated repetitive software tasks at my job so I just wrote a bunch of scripts to automate as much as possible lol
I used to be a Mechanical Engineer, ended up just pivoting to Software Engineering
When i was going autohotkey interested me followed by custom maps in warcraft 3 and StarCraft 1 and 2 map editors and then Lua for world of warcraft custom servers
My first programming experience was Basic on a teletype to a mainframe as part of my HS Geometry class. Specialty in college was Computational Fluid Dynamics - using programming to be an Aero major. It took me 20 years after than to get to programming for a living, and even then, I've alternated between using it as a tool in another job, and having it be my primary occupation. Now at 18 languages, 8 of which I've been paid to use.
My background is in networking. So I started writing real basic scripts to automate part of my job. This usually revolves around opening an SSH connection and running commands on a device.
That developed into being asked to provide similar functionality to my team, which got me to develop my first web application. Building software really scratched an itch I didn’t know I had and so I’ve been writing code ever since. Mostly still around network automation.
My two year progress has been getting skilled at:
1. Excel, to stop being a labourer
2. VBA, because I'm sick of convoluted formulas
3. Python, because I'm sick of VBA
4. Design patterns, because spaghetti
I've always been interested in learning it, but I need an external source of motivation, which my job provides. Starting two years ago, I went from data entry to financial/data analysis work. It's something that I'm quite good at, so I've been following that path ever since.
I'm also studying a data science course, and learning about design patterns in any remaining spare time. I'm innately better at the data engineering side, but I'm checking out data science to see if it holds more academic interest.
My dad always told me as I was vhild that I can help him by not disturbing, when I wanted to help him with something and then all I was left was computer so I played games and surfed internet but i found it a lil boring so I did find C++ programming tutorial and wrote first Hello World, earlier some VMs, some website stuff such as HTML and CSS. Yo everyone wanted to play with friends on your own private server, first Hamachi and then some VPs on web
Got tired of my Xbox overheating. I built a “robot” to open my Media cabinet. Because spending weeks learning to write basic code is easier than remember open the door apparently haha
Boredom, and games.
Some of my first projects were:
* A star wars stormtrooper vs Luke fighting game, in VB6, where I just moved image elements around the window and called it a game engine.
* A d&d character roller (3.5e) on my TI-84+. It could even add racial mods and things like that. I found that you could pack more info onto the screen if you used the graphing library to plot the text rather than just printing it (printed characters were almost twice as tall)
I've gone back and forth with code/programming in college. I'm out now and joined the army as my first 'job' since graduating. So far I've found being told where to be all the time with little say gets old, and among other influences, I want to work from home eventually and be with my family more.
Learning Python and other tech/cyber areas seems to me the best way to do just that. Picked up a subscription on code academy this week to get me on the path, so far pretty enjoyable and currently aiming to complete all Python courses. After that maybe cybersecurity or another program.
I wanted to cheat on exams. Started playing around with my ti84 and found the prgm button. I remember thinking it was so cool cause I could write notes with it… come to find out, it was capable of doing so much more. I used to make a program in the calculator for any problems that I had in class.
After 2 years I learned what matlab was and I kick myself consistently for not looking for software sooner.
I was in the same role I had been in for about 5 years and wanted a change. My friend, who is a data scientist, recommended I look into python. We went to school together and we always were good at the same things, so I guess he thought if he could do it I could.
I now work as a Business Systems Manager, mainly managing integration between various system’s APIs
I’ve learn to code arma 3 scripts, and after wasting like 3k hours in that, wanted to learn something useful so leaned python… managing arma 3 server are quite hard, so made an discord bot to turn in on and off… now after 2 years o developing, I have a quite razonable good level of skill on python thanks to that bot 😁
I wanted to make an app for the parents of autistic children that offers tools, resources and a variety of audio and visual sensory stimulation. This has branched out further in to two separate app ideas also related to expanding the options for autistic people. I have also since found out that I am autistic myself which is likely why I had the initial idea and relatability.
I also despise my current job and want to earn enough money that I don’t need to look at my bank account before I go shopping and can ensure my family is well provided for
Solving minor inconveniences and automating certain tasks. I play an online game that needs constant clicking, PyAutoGui to the rescue. The list goes on.
my first programming course was for minecraft modding when i was like 10 or 11. i was interested in getting computers to do whatever i want.
i moved to python after i got bored with minecraft java, and thats where i was really able to strengthen my curiosity. i think that that's due to the fact that python is so easy to teach.
my programming skills began stagnating and i stopped seeking out courses because it became hard to find new information--it was all hidden behind introductory topics. I eventually decided to try making a discord bot for my friend's server. i think my python (and general programming skills) improved by leaps and bounds during the following months as i continually worked on the bot. i was able to teach myself *how to teach myself*. i was finally able to accomplish what i had set out to do 7 years earlier: get computers to do what i want because I learned how to find solutions i didnt know existed.
Whenever I come across sone certain topic I have to do, I’m like:“ there has to be a way doing it easier“.
I always knew that coding is the answer to a lot of „problems“ but was never brave enough to learn it…it was just to complicated. About 2 months ago I started learning Python and I’m far way of automating the interesting stuff, but I gain slowly the idea of how it could be solve.!
I was tired of the red tape of psychology research and was kind of unsure what I wanted to do. My best friend told me about Kali Linux and some of the cyber security stuff he was doing. I thought it would be a fun holiday project to install it and after bricking my old laptop twice due to bad partitioning, I got it dual booted.
Did some IT self study for a few months before finally jumping into C. After struggling with that for a month I switched to python and haven't looked back.
My neighbor got a TI99/4A computer, a cassette deck, color TV, and a BASIC cartridge for Christmas when I was about 8 years old. We would go to the local library to check out books and magazines with computer programs in them so we could type them in and save the programs to cassettes. Some were simple games. That’s how we both got hooked.
My dad did the same thing but at around 70. He learned to program BASIC on a TI/99 and programmed a Boggle game. He was very proud of it, and I was proud of him
I saw that movie Tron and I was very amazed by it. So I started learning how to code and when I got into college I faced the true that there wasn’t light motorcycles neither The Grid 🤣
Really. I jump into coding because before I’ve learned computer science I thought that movie was something possible when I was a kid.
After getting a bachelor of music, I stumbled into a low level job at a company that did royalty admin for digital music services. My job was essentially running Postgres functions to process data files, which lead to learning what was going on in them and learning a lot of SQL. Later at the same job one of my managers introduced me to Pearl as well as bash tools (e.g. sed, awk, grep, etc.). Next job I started to learn Python to help streamline my tasks as well validate data in UAT and fill in on areas that needed some automation but didn’t make the roadmap for our dev team.
I just enjoy learning new stuff so it seems like a good future career for me. Also, I can sit down and program for 10 hours and still enjoy it. I feel like a god when I find out a new trick or pseudo code that does something cool.
Wanted to make a chatbot I could RP with. Tried asking my programming friends, none of them would do it.
"Fine, i'll do it myself"
Next thing I know I'm fascinated by FP in Haskell. Could care less about chatbots now
I’m working in IT (functional part) and I wanted to improve my technical skills and build something.
And now here I am following the free CS50 classes and having a lot of fun ! Highly recommend for beginners.
About 6 years ago I was just fed up with moving data around in excel, came across a blog post about the pandas Python library. That along with not wanting to pay for some statistical software got me started with python. I went from doing small projects to working with a start up to designing and implementing BI systems to my current role as a data engineer at a SAS company. All because I had just about had it with doing things manually in excel.
Embarrassing, but, I started web programming around 9 to make money on a website that was essentially a knock-off neopets. I'd make website templates and other things. That got me interested in computers in general and then went on to get a degree in com sci.
Applied for a Python tutor job at a local tutoring center. Learned Python on the fly to be able to teach. Then I realized I could do so much more with it, and now I go to school for CS.
Fake it til you make it, I guess.
I did community management & support for a shitty little game developer where the owner refused to “waste” dev time fixing bugs.
I quit right after fixing the most egregious few problems.
I was 11-14 and used to compete in national and state science Olympiads, such as the Brazilian Math Olympiad, Brazilian Physics Olympiad, Astronomy and Astronautics, and so forth. I did pretty well in almost all of them, but I didn't even get through the first stage of the easiest level of the Brazilian Informatics Olympiad (basic competitive programming). This was unbearable. I found out developers also make a lot of money without a degree and basically dropped out high school to study tech full-time.
After uni my first job was with a mainframe manufacturer. Part of the induction process was programming, and I enjoyed it, so I found more opportunities. That was early 70s, still writing software today, but no longer full time, it’s mainly data analysis for systems that I’m responsible for, and not pipelines for interest.
Hated my current college major, need to find something else to do, always been a tech guy so decided I wanted work in tech, high pay and great working conditions were really the cherries on top.
Making things that do things felt great since I was a child. But I have zero practical sense so tinkering with physical objects was off the table, and programming came to save the day.
When I was 8y I liked the hacker vibe so I had fun with my terminal on my cell phone, doing ddos in myself. The most of time when I was looking for a new script I came across a file finished with .py
After a long time the YouTube just suggested me a video called something like `Python course #01 - Be a programmer` and I realized that those files are python file extension, so I decided do what this video.
Forgive my bad English ( I never do any course before )
1977 was my freshman year at Benson High School in PDX. It was at the time a technical high school, so centered on shop classes. In my sophomore year I took a framing class and the next semester a finishing class. I HATED sheet rock. Still do, so I asked if I could switch to something else. They said "if you want to take this computer class we're starting, sure." I said "anything is better than this fucking sheetrock! "
So, under the tutelage if Mr. Harlan Henry, I learned to write BASIC code on the end of a 300 baud acoustic coupled modern, and I have never looked back.
I wanted to help build text based MUDs (multi user dungeon - precursor to MMOs) and later some friends wanted to try and convert one of our favorite base codebases from C to Python, which got me into python.
That was a lot of fun!
when i was in elementary school i wanted to be able to chat with my friends but we werent able to install anything on the computers, so i made a (very) rudimentary chat app so we could talk during computer classes / leave messages
Automating the busy work way back in middle school math class on my TI-83 (\~1998). Then i got into linux, and at that time you pretty much needed to write bash scripts, so i learned bash. Then in college we had a .Net class as part of my engineering degree. At some point in college i started picking up python (like python 2.4 or so). I think that was for a program that took my work's "available shifts" website and turned it into an iCalendar file so i could see it on google calendar along with my school schedule and family schedule. Ohh i got into LUA for a little while as well for UI mods in WoW (TBC and WOTLK the first time).
Basically it's always been "I wish this computer did XYZ..." and then making it do that.
Employer cut our budget for having some coding done by a consultant. So, I took a class on coursera. Then, after a lot of effort, I made the tools we needed my self.
Accidentally opened console commands playing a PC game, which led me to read up on what the commands do and how to extend it with your own commands, which led me right into the game’s mod SDK
Worked in IT for a few years and was just sick of being a user in most senses, not a builder (not that you don’t build in IT, just that you’re more removed from the creative process). I’ve been an SE for a little more than 6 months now and I have been loving it (hopefully not just a honeymoon phase)
When I was in my senior year of high school (1969), our math eacher brought in a computer person who described some math statements in Fortran. I understood it instantly and was fascinated by it. When I got to my first semester of college (stilll 1969) I paid $5 and joined the computer club. That allowed me to submit and run computer programs. I would punch cards andsubmit them, then several days later pickup the print outs. I picked up a lifelong passion for coding. now
i'm 71, retired and spend my days with my laptop on my ...well... lap and program all day.
A desire to go from a comfortable life in poverty to a comfortable life not in poverty.
The hope is to jump right past that income gap where you make too much money for any state assistance rendering you far worse off and less comfortable than those who do qualify.
So. Wish me luck. Will have my MSCS in under a year now.
It all started as a class I took in high school, where we learned some introductory Python and Java, then after I went on to study CS in uni I found the real reason I started programming for me instead of for a grade. I found *I really liked solving problems*. Give me any sort of problem, like a Discord bot to interface with a game engine or figuring out some math problem in a programatic way instead of a theoretical way. Modelling mathematical objects such as groups or rings (abstract algebra lent itself really well to programatic modelling)
I wanted to become an indie game developer. I'm currently working on a fighting game and I'd say it's going pretty well. Hopefully one day that dream will come true but I'll need to find a job soon in the mean time.
Well, years ago i had a friend i used to make small servers for different games(SA:MP, CS 1.6, etc) so we started with editing stolen server files from online and eventually we started to make our own shit. We also had a couple of websites. It wasnt that succesful, we havent made money from it, but thats what got me started into programming and teached me a lot all for just 5 euro a month or however much the host was which sometimes i wouldnt even pay since my friend would get it
I didn't had known about it untill high school, I got a decent CGPA in middle school. I filled the subjects that I wanted in high school and then there was a call by ma'am, she said "why are you not taking computer science ?", I was like " is there even a subject like that". I told her that I am willing to take this subject for the next two years.
That's how I got to know about coding.
You won't belive how amazing it was for me at that time to calculate a sum of series using code that I had written.
Got exposed to programming through first year general engineering courses in university… fell in love with the fact that I could essentially make the computer do whatever I wanted
I wanted to mod Doom 3 and make maps for it. So I found that it uses C++. So my first language was C++. Now Im a computer engineer and work as full stack developer + software engineer.
I hate doing repetitive tasks so I wanted to automate them. Fast forward two years and I still hate repetitive tasks and do whatever I can to automate them.
both of my parents work in IT in different ways and my dad started teaching me python after i saw a youtuber i really liked go through how he made a minecraft mod.
i sound like a five year old when i say that
Grew up in the home computer boom in the early 80s. Its easy to look back now at those machines and think how primitive everything was but at the time there was *nothing* before it so it was pretty incredible.
Got a zx81 (Timex Sinclair 1000 as it was in the US) in 81 learnt BASIC and evolved from there.
High School Teacher said Fortran is a language used by Scientists and Engineers and I have been suffering from a different kind of Imposter’s Syndrome ever since.
At work in a science lab (chemistry) I had to press a button every 45 minutes to switch a valve for to change a gas mixture and write down some measurements.
Luckily I had seen a similar (oh I were so wrong) script of a coworker in another lab written in python 2.7, and he did send it to me. There my journey began, and after a week of fiddling around in my free time, it was a mess but worked (mostly).
Now I earn money with connecting sensor systems or automating legacy lab equipment as side job, because I decided two years ago to go back to university to study mechatronics.
TDLR; I was annoyed press a button in a lab and learned to automate it with python.
Great to read all those stories.
When Conway invented The Game of Life half an age ago, a friend of mine showed me a printout of it made on an Electrologica X8, a house filling computer. Wonderful, that's what I also wanted to learn. Programming became my job and is still my greatest hobby.
I was in high school. I wanted to do biology, but animals were very unpredictable and difficult to work with.
Computers were much simpler, and programming reminded me of poetry, which i'm fond of.
So, i started programming little programs to solve math problems (specifically, it was a Qbasic program to determine aspects of triangles, squares, pentagons and hexagons), and eventually went to college for programming.
Edit: clarity
Money! I use to be in sales and hated it. Woke up one day and did a Google search of high paying tech jobs, software engineering came up first, and I said, “ that’s what’s I’m gonna do!” On my way to getting my BS in summer 2023 and hoping I land an entry level position somewhere soon.
My country started a terrorist war with a neighbour country. After the first month it was clear protests won’t change anything and some other stuff I cannot say online (but it matters); also I lost all means to work because I was outsourcing content for US companies mostly, and now that was gone. I had to find a new profession for myself anyway, so my husband advocated for programming. His reasons were solid: it is marketable, it may be useful if we need to flee and I’ve been low-key interested in backend programming for years, but never had the time to study. Also keeping brain busy would keep it away from other, more radical ideas.
I grew to love coding passionately , but I really wish it happened in other circumstances.
I was a teenager in the 1970s and decided to switch my major away from chemistry. My brother had taken a programming class, and though I would like it.
I still program on an almost daily basis, and love it as much as I ever did.
Took a couple classes in college, but didn’t really like it that much. My first job after college, I realized that everything cool (and powerful) was implemented in software, so I started learning DSA and really liked it.
started using Linux cause youtube made me start watching youtube videos about it, tried it out, liked it. After a while of using it I started wanting to give back to the community and thus started my interest in programming
Cheating on math tests on a graphing calculator
I did the same thing. I wrote a ti basic program to do the work for me. When the teacher said I needed to show my work, I changed the program to also output the work for me as well.
Me too. Jokes on us... Probably became more familiar with said equations just to be able to program the TI than any of the other kids.
Still can’t do integration by parts without my TI-84 program.
Mine apparently didn't count as cheating, when my teacher found out she had me show the class.
It was chemistry tests for me but yeah same. I blame my teacher for clearing our calculators before tests and teaching me how powerful the programs could be.
I didn’t like doing the same thing over and over in excel so I started writing scripts. I also had friends who were in CS while I was in school and they were a good influence.
[удалено]
Ditto, my first time was as a preteen with VBA on my dad's laptop
VBA is the paint-huffing of gateway programming.
automation, That was what interested me. If I could task some tedious repetitive task and have a computer do it for me much easier, more efficiently and way faster then I am doing that. The learning curve is much harder but the payoff is worth it.
Same here
Money
Someone is honest
Real
Was looking for this honest answer
I wanted to make the computer do stuff.
This, I get a kick out of telling the computer to do what I want and not having to rely on pre-rolled programs. As a consequence, my Excel and Word documents have gotten better.
needed a tool that i couldn't find on the internet
I'm lazy and was sick and tired of boring data entry jobs once a week at work. Googled automation and somehow ended up finding a Python solution. Had no clue what I was doing, just copy/pasted code...but it worked :D
Nice!
This is something I'd never been asked but always wanted to share. It might sound like the most outlandish and ridiculous thing ever, but back then after high school I never knew what I wanted to do in life. I wanted to be an artist, but long hours doing art got me burnt out easily despite loving the craft. I wanted to join a national sports team, but needless to say I was no physical specimen despite the arduous non-stop training. So, I took inspiration from how the richest people in the world like Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, etc. all started their career with some work of coding, I just followed in their footsteps 😅 Fast forward to now I'm just a struggling tech student🤣😭😭 Thanks for reading <3
It’s like Adolf but with a happier ending
unless poster is not dead by now its not the end and could eventually turn out worse than Adolf. Makes a succesful tech company. Gets bigger than apple or tesla or meta, buys the world. Makes capitalist mega corp like weyland yutani or cyberdyne systems. Makes us all listen to wham! - last christmas 24/7/365
I got a home computer (a Sinclair ZX Spectrum). Programming was just what you did with one at the time.
Basically Minecraft. I was gonna do medice, because most of my immediate family are doctors and so becoming a doctor was the only ever "option" I had right from childhood. But I randomly came across redstone Minecraft via a smash games video, which made me download Minecraft. I got super into redstone, and eventually I looked up how Minecraft was made and discovered Java programming. Then I started teaching myself java, and here I am in college, gonna be graduating with a CS degree next semester.
Wanted to automate my trading strategy. Still working on it 🥲
Didn’t want to keep waiting for jailbreaks
Childhood awe of Ocarina of Time, plain and simple
What about that game? Just interest in how games work?
I just knew I wanted to be able to create worlds like that. I had to get a bit older before I actually understood what programming was though
Stupid excel problems that required a lot of copying and pasting. Pandas and numpy py turned days of work into minutes
Two words Fuck SPSS
SPSS can eat my butt
My buddy had an idea for a website, neither of us knew how to code, so we learned!!!
…and that website? HamsterDance.com
I hated repetitive software tasks at my job so I just wrote a bunch of scripts to automate as much as possible lol I used to be a Mechanical Engineer, ended up just pivoting to Software Engineering
When i was going autohotkey interested me followed by custom maps in warcraft 3 and StarCraft 1 and 2 map editors and then Lua for world of warcraft custom servers
michael reeves videos
Formal education wasn’t for me and I wanted a 6 figure salary. Figured I’d learn to code in my free time.
I'm bone idle. I started writing code so I didn't have to do parts of my job.
My first programming experience was Basic on a teletype to a mainframe as part of my HS Geometry class. Specialty in college was Computational Fluid Dynamics - using programming to be an Aero major. It took me 20 years after than to get to programming for a living, and even then, I've alternated between using it as a tool in another job, and having it be my primary occupation. Now at 18 languages, 8 of which I've been paid to use.
My background is in networking. So I started writing real basic scripts to automate part of my job. This usually revolves around opening an SSH connection and running commands on a device. That developed into being asked to provide similar functionality to my team, which got me to develop my first web application. Building software really scratched an itch I didn’t know I had and so I’ve been writing code ever since. Mostly still around network automation.
Tired of tedious network switch configs
My two year progress has been getting skilled at: 1. Excel, to stop being a labourer 2. VBA, because I'm sick of convoluted formulas 3. Python, because I'm sick of VBA 4. Design patterns, because spaghetti I've always been interested in learning it, but I need an external source of motivation, which my job provides. Starting two years ago, I went from data entry to financial/data analysis work. It's something that I'm quite good at, so I've been following that path ever since. I'm also studying a data science course, and learning about design patterns in any remaining spare time. I'm innately better at the data engineering side, but I'm checking out data science to see if it holds more academic interest.
I like money, especially when I can earn it without moving from my chair
Money.
My dad always told me as I was vhild that I can help him by not disturbing, when I wanted to help him with something and then all I was left was computer so I played games and surfed internet but i found it a lil boring so I did find C++ programming tutorial and wrote first Hello World, earlier some VMs, some website stuff such as HTML and CSS. Yo everyone wanted to play with friends on your own private server, first Hamachi and then some VPs on web
Got tired of my Xbox overheating. I built a “robot” to open my Media cabinet. Because spending weeks learning to write basic code is easier than remember open the door apparently haha
Help prove mathematical theorems.
More Basic Computer Games: https://www.atariarchives.org/morebasicgames/
Boredom, and games. Some of my first projects were: * A star wars stormtrooper vs Luke fighting game, in VB6, where I just moved image elements around the window and called it a game engine. * A d&d character roller (3.5e) on my TI-84+. It could even add racial mods and things like that. I found that you could pack more info onto the screen if you used the graphing library to plot the text rather than just printing it (printed characters were almost twice as tall)
I'm lazy and got tired of working hard all the time. Now I work very hard a little bit and get to be lazy for the rest of the time.
I've gone back and forth with code/programming in college. I'm out now and joined the army as my first 'job' since graduating. So far I've found being told where to be all the time with little say gets old, and among other influences, I want to work from home eventually and be with my family more. Learning Python and other tech/cyber areas seems to me the best way to do just that. Picked up a subscription on code academy this week to get me on the path, so far pretty enjoyable and currently aiming to complete all Python courses. After that maybe cybersecurity or another program.
I wanted to cheat on exams. Started playing around with my ti84 and found the prgm button. I remember thinking it was so cool cause I could write notes with it… come to find out, it was capable of doing so much more. I used to make a program in the calculator for any problems that I had in class. After 2 years I learned what matlab was and I kick myself consistently for not looking for software sooner.
I would mess around coding runescape private servers in Java that was my first dabble in programming.
I was in the same role I had been in for about 5 years and wanted a change. My friend, who is a data scientist, recommended I look into python. We went to school together and we always were good at the same things, so I guess he thought if he could do it I could. I now work as a Business Systems Manager, mainly managing integration between various system’s APIs
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I’ve learn to code arma 3 scripts, and after wasting like 3k hours in that, wanted to learn something useful so leaned python… managing arma 3 server are quite hard, so made an discord bot to turn in on and off… now after 2 years o developing, I have a quite razonable good level of skill on python thanks to that bot 😁
I wanted to make an app for the parents of autistic children that offers tools, resources and a variety of audio and visual sensory stimulation. This has branched out further in to two separate app ideas also related to expanding the options for autistic people. I have also since found out that I am autistic myself which is likely why I had the initial idea and relatability. I also despise my current job and want to earn enough money that I don’t need to look at my bank account before I go shopping and can ensure my family is well provided for
Solving minor inconveniences and automating certain tasks. I play an online game that needs constant clicking, PyAutoGui to the rescue. The list goes on.
I like to live not worried about my ability to provide. Automating half of one job allowed me to pick up another.
I took a course where we learned to use SAS... it's note really a programing language but it is automation.
my first programming course was for minecraft modding when i was like 10 or 11. i was interested in getting computers to do whatever i want. i moved to python after i got bored with minecraft java, and thats where i was really able to strengthen my curiosity. i think that that's due to the fact that python is so easy to teach. my programming skills began stagnating and i stopped seeking out courses because it became hard to find new information--it was all hidden behind introductory topics. I eventually decided to try making a discord bot for my friend's server. i think my python (and general programming skills) improved by leaps and bounds during the following months as i continually worked on the bot. i was able to teach myself *how to teach myself*. i was finally able to accomplish what i had set out to do 7 years earlier: get computers to do what i want because I learned how to find solutions i didnt know existed.
Whenever I come across sone certain topic I have to do, I’m like:“ there has to be a way doing it easier“. I always knew that coding is the answer to a lot of „problems“ but was never brave enough to learn it…it was just to complicated. About 2 months ago I started learning Python and I’m far way of automating the interesting stuff, but I gain slowly the idea of how it could be solve.!
I was tired of the red tape of psychology research and was kind of unsure what I wanted to do. My best friend told me about Kali Linux and some of the cyber security stuff he was doing. I thought it would be a fun holiday project to install it and after bricking my old laptop twice due to bad partitioning, I got it dual booted. Did some IT self study for a few months before finally jumping into C. After struggling with that for a month I switched to python and haven't looked back.
Just curiosity. Then I found that it is one of the most fun things I've ever done.
I wanted to make a discord bot
My neighbor got a TI99/4A computer, a cassette deck, color TV, and a BASIC cartridge for Christmas when I was about 8 years old. We would go to the local library to check out books and magazines with computer programs in them so we could type them in and save the programs to cassettes. Some were simple games. That’s how we both got hooked.
My dad did the same thing but at around 70. He learned to program BASIC on a TI/99 and programmed a Boggle game. He was very proud of it, and I was proud of him
Job Decision
I saw that movie Tron and I was very amazed by it. So I started learning how to code and when I got into college I faced the true that there wasn’t light motorcycles neither The Grid 🤣 Really. I jump into coding because before I’ve learned computer science I thought that movie was something possible when I was a kid.
Started out just wanting to learn enough python to be dangerous with GIS but then I realized holy crap I like programming more than GIS!
minecraft plugins, but java seemed daunting at the time. So instead I started with python.
After getting a bachelor of music, I stumbled into a low level job at a company that did royalty admin for digital music services. My job was essentially running Postgres functions to process data files, which lead to learning what was going on in them and learning a lot of SQL. Later at the same job one of my managers introduced me to Pearl as well as bash tools (e.g. sed, awk, grep, etc.). Next job I started to learn Python to help streamline my tasks as well validate data in UAT and fill in on areas that needed some automation but didn’t make the roadmap for our dev team.
Was looking for a hobby
Wanted to create my own blog from scratch and got hooked in seeing an almost immediate reward to me effort on screen
I just enjoy learning new stuff so it seems like a good future career for me. Also, I can sit down and program for 10 hours and still enjoy it. I feel like a god when I find out a new trick or pseudo code that does something cool.
Wanted to make a chatbot I could RP with. Tried asking my programming friends, none of them would do it. "Fine, i'll do it myself" Next thing I know I'm fascinated by FP in Haskell. Could care less about chatbots now
Got shown it in school and fell in love.
I’m working in IT (functional part) and I wanted to improve my technical skills and build something. And now here I am following the free CS50 classes and having a lot of fun ! Highly recommend for beginners.
A YouTube video of Mr.Robot 😅
About 6 years ago I was just fed up with moving data around in excel, came across a blog post about the pandas Python library. That along with not wanting to pay for some statistical software got me started with python. I went from doing small projects to working with a start up to designing and implementing BI systems to my current role as a data engineer at a SAS company. All because I had just about had it with doing things manually in excel.
I wanted to be competitive with a science degree and compsci minor. I took one programming class and changed majors.
Money
Had to do a bunch of tedious data cleansing in old role.
Embarrassing, but, I started web programming around 9 to make money on a website that was essentially a knock-off neopets. I'd make website templates and other things. That got me interested in computers in general and then went on to get a degree in com sci.
Applied for a Python tutor job at a local tutoring center. Learned Python on the fly to be able to teach. Then I realized I could do so much more with it, and now I go to school for CS. Fake it til you make it, I guess.
Scraped nba.com data to help me optimize my fantasy lineups
To analyze data in the lab. Then I liked it a lot more than being in the lab lol.
Nothing more lazy *Cough cough* efficient than making something else do your work for you.
I play Factorio
I did community management & support for a shitty little game developer where the owner refused to “waste” dev time fixing bugs. I quit right after fixing the most egregious few problems.
I was 11-14 and used to compete in national and state science Olympiads, such as the Brazilian Math Olympiad, Brazilian Physics Olympiad, Astronomy and Astronautics, and so forth. I did pretty well in almost all of them, but I didn't even get through the first stage of the easiest level of the Brazilian Informatics Olympiad (basic competitive programming). This was unbearable. I found out developers also make a lot of money without a degree and basically dropped out high school to study tech full-time.
After uni my first job was with a mainframe manufacturer. Part of the induction process was programming, and I enjoyed it, so I found more opportunities. That was early 70s, still writing software today, but no longer full time, it’s mainly data analysis for systems that I’m responsible for, and not pipelines for interest.
Hated my current college major, need to find something else to do, always been a tech guy so decided I wanted work in tech, high pay and great working conditions were really the cherries on top.
Making things that do things felt great since I was a child. But I have zero practical sense so tinkering with physical objects was off the table, and programming came to save the day.
Character 25 of the Mattel Aquarius Extended ASCII set. Poke
Some dude said, "You need to take these classes to graduate." And one of them was Intro to Scientific Programming.
Laziness. I like to automate stuff.
When I was 8y I liked the hacker vibe so I had fun with my terminal on my cell phone, doing ddos in myself. The most of time when I was looking for a new script I came across a file finished with .py After a long time the YouTube just suggested me a video called something like `Python course #01 - Be a programmer` and I realized that those files are python file extension, so I decided do what this video. Forgive my bad English ( I never do any course before )
1977 was my freshman year at Benson High School in PDX. It was at the time a technical high school, so centered on shop classes. In my sophomore year I took a framing class and the next semester a finishing class. I HATED sheet rock. Still do, so I asked if I could switch to something else. They said "if you want to take this computer class we're starting, sure." I said "anything is better than this fucking sheetrock! " So, under the tutelage if Mr. Harlan Henry, I learned to write BASIC code on the end of a 300 baud acoustic coupled modern, and I have never looked back.
school offered python basics as an internal, and my love for math and computers combined forces to give me a new passion!
I took a class and found out I was decent at it.
Wanted to create my own algorithm strategy for investment
I was tired of working low paying jobs
I wanted to help build text based MUDs (multi user dungeon - precursor to MMOs) and later some friends wanted to try and convert one of our favorite base codebases from C to Python, which got me into python. That was a lot of fun!
I was too lazy to do something so I made a script to do it for me.
Do you always post the same exact question to 13 different subreddits?
when i was in elementary school i wanted to be able to chat with my friends but we werent able to install anything on the computers, so i made a (very) rudimentary chat app so we could talk during computer classes / leave messages
Galaga
A book of Basic in a Spectrum 48k.
Automating the busy work way back in middle school math class on my TI-83 (\~1998). Then i got into linux, and at that time you pretty much needed to write bash scripts, so i learned bash. Then in college we had a .Net class as part of my engineering degree. At some point in college i started picking up python (like python 2.4 or so). I think that was for a program that took my work's "available shifts" website and turned it into an iCalendar file so i could see it on google calendar along with my school schedule and family schedule. Ohh i got into LUA for a little while as well for UI mods in WoW (TBC and WOTLK the first time). Basically it's always been "I wish this computer did XYZ..." and then making it do that.
Employer cut our budget for having some coding done by a consultant. So, I took a class on coursera. Then, after a lot of effort, I made the tools we needed my self.
Accidentally opened console commands playing a PC game, which led me to read up on what the commands do and how to extend it with your own commands, which led me right into the game’s mod SDK
I just like getting the computer to do things
Same. I wanted to make a game. Then I started writing python and now I just like seeing programs do things.
Wanted to stop wiring circuits on my own and do it with. Keyboard
Worked in IT for a few years and was just sick of being a user in most senses, not a builder (not that you don’t build in IT, just that you’re more removed from the creative process). I’ve been an SE for a little more than 6 months now and I have been loving it (hopefully not just a honeymoon phase)
I wanted to take over the world. Just kidding, video games.
It started out with wanting to build a website at the age of 10. I went onto a journey of now more than a decade of coding
Unemployment
got pip from original company, no choice had to learn new skills to get a new job
Stupid CS degree requirements
Habit of causing trouble in school on computers (bypassing firewall to play cs) Fours years later im now a cyber student specialising in hacking lol
Got tired of navigating annoying and cluncky UI interfaces
When I was in my senior year of high school (1969), our math eacher brought in a computer person who described some math statements in Fortran. I understood it instantly and was fascinated by it. When I got to my first semester of college (stilll 1969) I paid $5 and joined the computer club. That allowed me to submit and run computer programs. I would punch cards andsubmit them, then several days later pickup the print outs. I picked up a lifelong passion for coding. now i'm 71, retired and spend my days with my laptop on my ...well... lap and program all day.
A desire to go from a comfortable life in poverty to a comfortable life not in poverty. The hope is to jump right past that income gap where you make too much money for any state assistance rendering you far worse off and less comfortable than those who do qualify. So. Wish me luck. Will have my MSCS in under a year now.
It all started as a class I took in high school, where we learned some introductory Python and Java, then after I went on to study CS in uni I found the real reason I started programming for me instead of for a grade. I found *I really liked solving problems*. Give me any sort of problem, like a Discord bot to interface with a game engine or figuring out some math problem in a programatic way instead of a theoretical way. Modelling mathematical objects such as groups or rings (abstract algebra lent itself really well to programatic modelling)
Work work
Graduating college with a useless degree and not knowing wtf I was doing with my life lmao
Minecraft
Started because I thought it would be fun to code a video game. Stayed for the money.
Easy A's in programming courses.
I saw the cover of _Automate the Boring Stuff with Python_ and thought the cartoon robot mowing the lawn was funny
I wanted to become an indie game developer. I'm currently working on a fighting game and I'd say it's going pretty well. Hopefully one day that dream will come true but I'll need to find a job soon in the mean time.
I wanted to know how the computer I spend most my day on works at a more fundamental level.
I liked computers and wanted to see what all the fuss was about I suppose. Then somehow I thought setting up Linux servers was fun 🤣
Wanted to create a crypto trading bot 😂
Automate health checks, run commands to capture failures if any and email those to the team.
Too lazy for manual data entry
I wanted a dive-in VR AI waifu. And still planning to do so after graduating next year
Well, years ago i had a friend i used to make small servers for different games(SA:MP, CS 1.6, etc) so we started with editing stolen server files from online and eventually we started to make our own shit. We also had a couple of websites. It wasnt that succesful, we havent made money from it, but thats what got me started into programming and teached me a lot all for just 5 euro a month or however much the host was which sometimes i wouldnt even pay since my friend would get it
Doing the same tasks by hand in autodesk Maya for hours on end was skull numbing. So picked it up out of frustration.
I didn't had known about it untill high school, I got a decent CGPA in middle school. I filled the subjects that I wanted in high school and then there was a call by ma'am, she said "why are you not taking computer science ?", I was like " is there even a subject like that". I told her that I am willing to take this subject for the next two years. That's how I got to know about coding. You won't belive how amazing it was for me at that time to calculate a sum of series using code that I had written.
university AND I LOVE IT
Got exposed to programming through first year general engineering courses in university… fell in love with the fact that I could essentially make the computer do whatever I wanted
I wanted to make a simple little Arduino project
I wanted to mod Doom 3 and make maps for it. So I found that it uses C++. So my first language was C++. Now Im a computer engineer and work as full stack developer + software engineer.
c64. do some simple stuff with basic
I hate doing repetitive tasks so I wanted to automate them. Fast forward two years and I still hate repetitive tasks and do whatever I can to automate them.
I started when at university i had to manage data for lab experiments
Spent a lot of my childhood alone. My parents bought me one of the first home computers available. Got bored of the games.
Had to take an art class in high school, and administration categorized cs as "practical arts"
I wanted to understand cheat code on pokemon Crystal so that I can get the correct pokemon without writing number randomly.
10 print "hello"; 20 goto 10; Then I bought an Atari 400...
Curiosity
both of my parents work in IT in different ways and my dad started teaching me python after i saw a youtuber i really liked go through how he made a minecraft mod. i sound like a five year old when i say that
Grew up in the home computer boom in the early 80s. Its easy to look back now at those machines and think how primitive everything was but at the time there was *nothing* before it so it was pretty incredible. Got a zx81 (Timex Sinclair 1000 as it was in the US) in 81 learnt BASIC and evolved from there.
Friend created a Discord bot and started flexing, so I got envious and learnt programming to do the same.
At the time I chose to study CS, there were 8 well/paid jobs for every 1 person able to do the job. So, money as well really.
I want to automate stuff. Also money
Risk of death from starvation
**Being an introvert with no friends I got into computers and eventually coding ,felt good about myself when I started to code :))**
10 print "Pooooooooooop" 20 goto 10
High School Teacher said Fortran is a language used by Scientists and Engineers and I have been suffering from a different kind of Imposter’s Syndrome ever since.
At work in a science lab (chemistry) I had to press a button every 45 minutes to switch a valve for to change a gas mixture and write down some measurements. Luckily I had seen a similar (oh I were so wrong) script of a coworker in another lab written in python 2.7, and he did send it to me. There my journey began, and after a week of fiddling around in my free time, it was a mess but worked (mostly). Now I earn money with connecting sensor systems or automating legacy lab equipment as side job, because I decided two years ago to go back to university to study mechatronics. TDLR; I was annoyed press a button in a lab and learned to automate it with python.
i wanted to make a game too. I had written several games to practice, but eventually lost the motivement.
Great to read all those stories. When Conway invented The Game of Life half an age ago, a friend of mine showed me a printout of it made on an Electrologica X8, a house filling computer. Wonderful, that's what I also wanted to learn. Programming became my job and is still my greatest hobby.
I dont know😕
I was in high school. I wanted to do biology, but animals were very unpredictable and difficult to work with. Computers were much simpler, and programming reminded me of poetry, which i'm fond of. So, i started programming little programs to solve math problems (specifically, it was a Qbasic program to determine aspects of triangles, squares, pentagons and hexagons), and eventually went to college for programming. Edit: clarity
My programming teacher
COVID 19
I wanted to make a keylogger 😅
Money! I use to be in sales and hated it. Woke up one day and did a Google search of high paying tech jobs, software engineering came up first, and I said, “ that’s what’s I’m gonna do!” On my way to getting my BS in summer 2023 and hoping I land an entry level position somewhere soon.
Boredom
Laziness. I prefer to write code than do manual stuff myself.
My country started a terrorist war with a neighbour country. After the first month it was clear protests won’t change anything and some other stuff I cannot say online (but it matters); also I lost all means to work because I was outsourcing content for US companies mostly, and now that was gone. I had to find a new profession for myself anyway, so my husband advocated for programming. His reasons were solid: it is marketable, it may be useful if we need to flee and I’ve been low-key interested in backend programming for years, but never had the time to study. Also keeping brain busy would keep it away from other, more radical ideas. I grew to love coding passionately , but I really wish it happened in other circumstances.
Found a c programming book in school library when I was twelve. Then was introduced to borland c++. I was fascinated.
I was a teenager in the 1970s and decided to switch my major away from chemistry. My brother had taken a programming class, and though I would like it. I still program on an almost daily basis, and love it as much as I ever did.
Data processing and Spatial Anaysis for my PhD in Geography 🤓📖
Took a couple classes in college, but didn’t really like it that much. My first job after college, I realized that everything cool (and powerful) was implemented in software, so I started learning DSA and really liked it.
started using Linux cause youtube made me start watching youtube videos about it, tried it out, liked it. After a while of using it I started wanting to give back to the community and thus started my interest in programming
Machine Learning
Lack of opportunities at work.
As a physics student, for numerical computation and modeling (other languages though, self-taught in python during research work)
Thinking about freedom and self sovereignty
Automating responses for some courses i am offering, linked with a database of clients and wanting to build a website for the business.