The develper of WordByter & member of donationcoder gives us an insight into his life.
Q. Please tell us a bit about yourself.
A. I am currently 20 years old and I attend the University of Central Florida where I’m a second-year student. I love programming very much and have picked Computer Science as my Major. While i’m no where near an expert programmer, I continually strive to better myself through hours and hours of practice. Besides programming, I’m athletic and I enjoy playing football.
Q. How did you get started with computers and build up your skill set?
A. When my mother met her second husband, I was introduced to Computers and the internet. I immediately became obsessed and tried to learn how to build a website. I started off with cheat code websites (since I loved video games at this age) using Frontpage and from there was able to develop some general computer skills. My father works at a high school where he is the IT manager so I spent my summers and afternoons helping my parents out at work. I became known as the repair guy and would constantly fix teacher’s computers whether I was in school or just helping out my parents. In Seventh grade, my father gave me a TI-86 for my algebra class. This calculator was what opened up my career as a programmer. I learned how to write code that would solve my homework problems for me. It wasn’t long before I was spending my class time writing the code to solve the problems for my homework instead of actually DOING the homework. Later on in my life, when I took my first programming class during my 11th grade year, I really developed an addiction to programming. I learned the year’s worth of course content in one semester and spent the other semester doing extra programs that my teacher would have to make up for me.
Q. Which is your favorite programming language? Which tool do you use for creating apps?
A. I’d have to say that my favorite programming language is C/C++ and I use CodeGear RAD Studio to develop all of my applications.
Q. Did you “teach yourself” your skills or did you learn from a school or other resource?
A. I learned the very very basics of programming during my 11th grade programming class. I learned the
material for the year in half the time, so I spent all of my second semester in that class teaching myself
programming using my Teacher’s personal programming books. To clarify, my parents gave me the resources to learn and I spent the time I had, using the resources to teach myself what I know 🙂
Q. How and when did you get involved in DonationCoder?
A. To be completely honest, I dont remember how I came across DC, but I believe it was probably when I was searching for some help concerning something with programming. My interest in DC was really sparked when DC offered the Borland C++ Builder Contest and from there on out I have been active on the forums. However, I spend most of my free time in the IRC channel 🙂
Q. How much time do you usually spend on computers/programming?
A. If I dont have homework for another class or an exam to study for, I’m usually programming or on my
laptop.
Q. Do you have any other projects on the go other than my NANY app?
A. Well, the big projects I have been working on/researching are: CBSU
(CodeByter Software Updater), WordByter and a few others I’ll reveal a little later 🙂
Q. Do you have any experience with operating systems other than Windows? How much do you get involved with it?
A. I have very little experience with macintosh and linux (specifically Ubuntu and Knoppix).
Q. What are your hobbies and interests away from the desk?
A. I’d have to say I’m quite a movie buff! I love to watch movies of all sorts. But I honestly spend the
most time, learning about programming, even though it’s my career I consider it a hobby 🙂
Q. What do you get passionate about?
A. My family and my career.
Q. Who or what in your life would you say influenced you the most?
A. I’d have to say my mother has influenced me the most. She has been through a devastating divorce that literally left her with two kids (my brother and myself) and nothing else. Her perseverance has influenced me continually. It’s one thing to be dealt a bad hand of cards but its another to make something out of that hand. I look at my family now and I can see a healthy family with the greatest Dad I’ve ever had. I am truly blessed because of the endurance and strength my mother has.My Dad has influenced me greatly with computers and programming. He has always been there for me. He provided
me with Computers and everything I needed to learn everything that I can. He has also helped to deliver my family from nothing to priceless. He is the perfect example of what a Dad should be like.
Q. Your favorite stuff from: Food/T.V. Show/Website/Books/Music?
A.
Fav. Food = Steak Fajitas
Fav. T.V. Show = I dont watch TV that much anymore, so really hard to pick a favorite from nothing.
Fav. Website = DonationCoder.com 🙂
Fav. Books = Fantasy
Fav. Music = Rock, Pop, Old-school Rap
Q. What motivates/keeps you motivated to programming?
A. I recently gave a speech about the culture of Computer Programmers. My introduction was: “Programming is alot like playing the role of God, you can literally create whatever your mind can think of and yet have it be autonomous enough to suprise or delight you.” – Thanks to mouser 🙂 That quote is what motivates me to keep programming. I love learning how to create things; I love having the ability to create whatever I can think of.
Q. What do you do in your spare time?
A. Code, code, code!! Seriously, any spare time I have that isn’t being used for my college classes is used
for programming!
Q. What does “success” mean to you?
A. In my opinion, in order to achieve success you need to do whatever your task is “and then some.” My
College theme is “and then some” and I really think it describes the way people should approach life to get
the most of it, and then some! 🙂
Q. Any advice you’d give to new programmers?
A. Learn everything you can and know that when you are frustrated an opportunity to learn has made itself available. Program whenever you can and then some. Spend time learning the “right’s” and “wrong’s.” Don’t be headstrong, it only leads to embarrassment.
Q. Where do you see yourself in the future?
A. In the future, I would like to be successful and be recognized as an “expert” programmer. I want to be
sitting in a position where I can literally code anything my mind can think of; and not just code it, but
code it the best way possible. I would like to be stable and have the money to raise and support my family without working too hard, if any.
[Mahesh] Thanks for the interview. 🙂