My first exposure
I, like many children bored out of their minds at primary school in the 2010s with access to a computer, messed around with Scratch. I didn't know it yet, but the loops and random interval ball-bouncing simulations taught me the very basics of programming and gamified it. The MIT knew what they were doing and really executed (heh) it well.
2019
Jumping ahead a few years, I had ICT lessons in secondary school. We were using some kind of Visual Basic (.NET) to create some very rudimentary applications. I ended up creating a Doctor Who(?) quiz game, but I really soured on the whole idea of programming. I don't know why, I think I got sick of it by proxy due to mental health issues at the time.
May 2022
I have a definitive month for this one! In May 2022 I decided, out of boredom, to start (rather, try) learning Python. I used an hour-long tutorial on YouTube to get started and built up my knowledge over time by doing a mix of tutorial projects (like an age calculator, an actual calculator, and other things) and my own stuff.
2023 and 2024
May 2023
In May 2023, I decided to create a proper website. I had been using Linktree and later (briefly) Carrd, but I was sick of the restrictions. I looked around, particularly on the Fediverse, and found out about Neocities, which is a reboot of (Yahoo) GeoCities.
Due to its Web 1.0 style of doing things, I was tasked with learning the main three basic programming languages for Web Development; HTML, CSS and JavaScript/JS. I managed to get a working site up and running in about 3 hours of hyperfocus.
This set-up was fine, for about three months.
I moved my code over to GitHub and started hosting it with Github Pages. I continued to learn HTML, CSS and JS as I went about with the website.
↓ The final version before this current one you see now looked like this! ↓
↓ Compared to the current look! ↓
I can revert to the previous version, but it would kill off my blog. 😓
August 2023
Switching from Windows to macOS in August was a bigger deal than it might seem. Windows machines and Macs run on different systems, like Windows with its own NT kernel and Macs with the Darwin kernel (which powers other Apple devices too). So, I had to learn a whole new set of commands and ways of working. It was like switching spoken languages, such as English to Spanish.
Anyway, with the shift from Windows to macOS, it took me a while to get back in the swing of things. I took my time to adjust to the new environment and I've managed, now I'm more comfortable with the Mac than Windows.
January 2024 and Thereafter
It all leads up to now, with me now using Hugo to manage my website which I bought a domain (do you see it in your address bar?) for.
I'm not sure where I'll go from here between programming and my other endeavours such as my poetry, but I think I will continue with how I am for now, before I do anything too serious in the future.
I do think that this is a good choice for a hobby, or even a job if you'd prefer. Take a look at the guide on Python that I used if you want to get started with Python. It gives people a good springboard as it covers the basics and isn't too long at just an hour in length.
Thanks for reading! 👋🏻
