How I Got Started in Programming

I wrote my first fully-functioning computer program as a high school student when I was 17 years old. Python was all the rage back then – much like how JavaScript is, at the moment. I wanted to know what the hype was all about and whether or not programming was a viable route for me once school was over.

The program I wrote was a small final project that was part of a beginner’s Python course offered by some nice folks over at Rice University on Coursera. The project required course participants to create a fun variant of the popular game rock, paper, scissors. It took the basic concept and added depth to it by introducing two additional elements of “lizard” and “spock” to it – a reference linked to my all-time favorite TV show The Big Bang Theory.

The two additional elements added a certain level of complexity to the game on account of the fact that they modified the probability of outcomes significantly.

Rock, paper, scissors, lizard, spock took me about five to six hours of writing and tweaking code to finally work. I thought I’d never get it done.

I made the game in CodeSkulptor – an online IDE that runs Python programs directly in the browser. The game had no GUI and was very simple in its functionality. But as I slowly started to see it come together, I felt that rewarding feeling that programmers are all too familiar with when they write a piece of code and watch it work the way they had intended.

Once the code was finally done, I, for the first time ever, got to experience what it felt like to watch a piece of code you worked hard on finally work. This is when I realized that coding was worth the grind. It was worth the hard work. It was for me.

There were 4 professors in total teaching the course and I remember how welcomed I felt into the world of programming just by the way they taught. There was no intimidation, no fancy jargon, and everything was clear and concise.

Looking back at it now, I do think that the course got challenging at times. Under normal circumstances, a professional procrastinator like me would have given up in the middle, no questions asked. But I think the only reason I stuck to it was because of how achievable the amazing instructors made everything look.

So, this is how I got started into the world of programming. I have come a long from rock, paper, scissors, lizard, spock but everything I have learned from day one till now warrants a huge Thank You to Joe Warren, Scott Rixner, Stephen Wong, and John Greiner - the 4 professors who taught the course. Despite me never having interacted with any of them, watching their lectures felt as if they knew I could do it.

And I did.

I took computer science as my major in university and am now on my way to pursue my Masters in the same field.

I think it is still one of the best, if not the best, courses out there to get started with Python. Here’s the link for anyone looking to dip their toes in programming and see whether it’s for them: An Introduction to Interactive Programming in Python

I hope it helps you find what you love just like it did for me!