Coding for Cookies

GofD

Well-known member
All this talk of jQuery has our son interested again in old projects. He's 9 now, but he started with some basic html, css and jQuery when he was 7 - he would code for cookies, literally. I thought it'd be fun to find out if any of you have coding kiddies?

Here are some of his projects:

http://www.ikeafans.com/alex/alexs-css.html (click the green box for some jQuery)
http://www.ikeafans.com/alex/alexs-css2.html (this page he wrote out from scratch on paper first, including the head, then coded it.)

What have your kids done? Or alternatively, did you start out coding very young? Personally, I didn't touch a scrap of code til I was 36 years old, but I can set the next generation right!
 
I started on HTML and CSS when I was 13 or 14, that was followed shortly by PHP.

I did, however, once work with someone who wrote a BBS comparable to Burning Board Lite at the age of 11.
 
I started on HTML and CSS when I was 13 or 14, that was followed shortly by PHP.

I would say HTML + CSS for me was between 11-13, I designed my schools first website... was told to use Frontpage and refused, lol... Actual real HTML + CSS (not tables and other crazy beginner stuff) was around 13-14... and PHP kicked in around 16... Learned Visual Basic and C++ when I was in college, then went back to PHP when I left.
 
I'm an old COBOLer myself, and took a long time to get forced into OOP and Java, then found PHP. I started writing Commodore BASIC programs when I was about 14. I thought it was cool to be able to change the background color with:
Code:
10 POKE 53281,0
RUN

I have a 5 year old that is showing some tech skills, but I think he'll be into more mechanical stuff than anything else.
 
Makes me remember the old school days when we abused the old windows netsend feature... lol... got to the point though were a group of us created a .bat file to just look forever sending netsend messages to everyone over and over again making it impossible to actually use the PC's... (Naught I know but I was a teenager :P)...

Then the other times when we all changed the HTML and CSS propities of the Exprlorer windows to add HTML buttons that would open up screenshots of excel spreadsheet over the game you were playing, or to hide the files you were not meant to have lol...

Really bad reasons to use DOS commands HTML, CSS and JS but a great way to learn...
 
Did not expect this thread title to be about actual cookies, haha.

Anyway, I started coding 12-13 when I first got involved with vBulletin and still code mostly with PHP.
 
Started off with HTML/CSS then PHP / MySQL, then .net/ASP and now Javascript.
In desktop apps, I started off with visual basic at 7, then progressed to C++ .
 
How about you PHP buffs write me a 7page script for my site to display lists? I'll send you a bottle of fish sauce through the mail.
fishsauce.webp
 
So, you guys who started coding at a young age - is there anything you'd do differently? Sounds like you all mostly started on HTML/CSS and then moved on to PHP. Would you pick up any other skills earlier than you did?

Also, kind of related but different still ... do you think it's important to learn to touch type, or did a lot of you learn to peck quickly enough to make a go of it?

Curious...
 
Floris - our kids are unschooled. They spend all their time doing whatever they want - no textbooks, no tests, and beaucoup outside playing in the sunshine. We don't push anything, but we help them to follow their own interests - because of this, I believe, they both love learning. Our son has an interest in computers which we're trying to help him foster. Just curious what others have discovered based on their own experience - woulda, coulda, shoulda kinds of things.
 
That is great. I hope they grow up well. I am sure they're smart, but I think a 7 or 9 year old shouldn't be bothered figuring out copy/paste + implementing it in their html code, etc .. in other words: spend hours behind a computer, still in place. There's enough to learn about the world.
 
Also, kind of related but different still ... do you think it's important to learn to touch type, or did a lot of you learn to peck quickly enough to make a go of it?

I type poorly, and I keep saying (15+ years) I will take the time to lean how to type properly. I'll probably get this software.....
 
That is great. I hope they grow up well. I am sure they're smart, but I think a 7 or 9 year old shouldn't be bothered figuring out copy/paste + implementing it in their html code, etc .. in other words: spend hours behind a computer, still in place. There's enough to learn about the world.

You're totally entitled to your opinion, of course. For our family, both kids have a strict limit on the amount of time spent on the computer each day, and we don't have television so I'm quite confident they get sufficient time running around, playing, reading, creating, etc. More than most kids who are tied to a desk in school all day do, that's for sure.

Anyhoo...
 
I started with HTML & CSS, when I was 11, PHP with MySQL came at the Age of 14/15. :)
Technologies like JavaScript came up with 17, 18
Now I'm 20 and working as Webdeveloper. :p

Greetings

P.S. I wasn't a "PC Kid", I often was outside...
 
You guys know about getafreelancer.com? my friend who dropped out of college is making 8K/month just getting projects from there. if I know any coding, I'd be there in no time.
 
elance.com is another great example. Imagine the $$$ that kid can make for his father!
Not sure exactly what you're referring to, but any money our kids earn is THEIR money. They manage their own funds, have a bank account etc. If either of them decides to simply go entrepreneur from a young age, that's totally up to them. Obviously if our son decides to go into webdev we can set him up with more resources (www.lynda.com account, books, hosting etc) than if he decides to go into medicine (physiology is another of his big passions) or game design, but whatever he and his sister choose to do we'll support them as best we can. :)

Most likely our daughter will become a chef or party planner (based on her current interests though she'd make a HECK of a lawyer! ;))
 
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