Year ago I didn't know how to code, few weeks ago I released my first iOS/Android/Windows10 game. AMA!

I'm 14. I am very interested in computers & coding. I already know php, html, Python and will learn JavaScript soon. I am wondering what gave you motivation? Also how did you learn the languages and what would be a good language for a 14 year old wanting to grow up and be a game dev? cheers - Ethan

You have a great start. You know what programming is about now you just need to figure out what do you want to do in future - mobile apps, web apps or something else?

I just can say my opinion about creating mobile apps. If you learn java or Swift or Objective-c you will be able to create apps just for one platform. Maybe this changes in future but for now I would recommend C#.

What was my motivation? I just liked everything I learned so it wasn't very challenging for me to sit and learn :) I used books (1, 2), tutorials, videos (1, 2) etc.

My son is 13 and wants to learn to code...where is the best place to start when you have no foundational knowledge?

(Edit - thanks for all the suggestions. You guys are the bomb!)

IMO the most important thing is to learn to think like programmer. Step-by-step thinking. I learned that with Pascal when I was about his age. Of course pascal is a ancient language now, so maybe PHP? No compilation, easy to learn language.

I know C# so I can only say about this language. I didn't have a clue about it last december so I began from beginner level. Books are the best way to start. It's very important to write what's in the book - not just read. Practice is the most important thing.

Check out this videos: 1 2. Those might help later.

was it difficult getting it through iOS?

I'm a Windows user so I'm really not comfortable using Mac and I was forced to ;) So that was a struggle:P

But after some initial problems with framework it wasn't that bad. Then I had a problem with Facebook integration, but it was my simple info.plist mistake...

How much have you made from the game?

Are you going to become a programmer as a career?

What is your favourite language?

1. I made close to nothing. Games like this needs tens of thousands downloads to make some "real" money.

2. That's a plan.

3. C# but I don't know many to be honest.

I've been looking to do the same, what coding language did you learn? And what game engine?

I chose C# - it was the easiest for me to learn and practice since I have few Windows devices (phone, tablet, pc). Then after few months I decided to make a game and it turned out C# wasn't a bad choise, because there are few engines/frameworks that support C# and are multiplatform :)

I used Monogame, wich is great tool but has some downsides. Now I'm learning using Unity for future games.

Nice. What phone do you have? I am thinking of picking up a Lumia 550 as they are super cheap (£50!) and have Windows 10. Yeah I know it isn't going to be a super powerful phone but I just want something to learn about universal apps on phones.

I am using C++ btw

I use old 920, and it's still great! But if POP4 earns me enough money I'll most definetely buy 950XL :P

I have the Lumia 1020. It's one of those areas where I would go for a more beefy unit. 830 or 930 would probably do well. W10M seems to be somewhat slow (I know it's in development). you could probably get a last years flagship quite cheap.

Windows 10 Mobile is slow (and it's not in development anymore) wich is pretty disapoiting for me. WP8 was super fast.

I hope they will work with it some more and make it faster...

Ive heard there are ready-made platforms for apps, and that you dont have to start coding from scratch - did you use these? Or build from the ground up? And would you recommend doing it that way? Thanks!

No, I used C#, Xamarin and Monogame to create my game. I heared about those platforms but never used them so can't say...

But I really like the way I made it - it was a hard work (Monogame doesn't have too many ready-to-use solutions) but I could do everything the way I want it to be. I think I will change framework/engine to Unity in next game, but didn't decide yet...

Isn't Xamarin super expensive? Did you get some kind of student discount?

Well indie subscription is $50/month. There is a business subscription that costs much more. And business subscription is $1998 a year.

Do you enjoy csgo?

Well yes but I only played few times. Bought it couple of weeks ago.

Hi, great job! You said you started learning programming last December. Were you at this full time/part time? What did you work on prior to learning programming? Thanks!

Before december 2014 I worked on few different stuff. I was managing AdWords campains, managing some websites, selling toy bricks online etc. I worked in company co-founded by me but left last december.

Anyway - for the lest 13 months learning coding and coding itself was my full-time job :) It is the most interesting and most challenging thing to date.

Which books and other resources did you find helpful?

At the beginning books (1, 2) and videos (1, 2).

Cześć! Jak się masz? We don't see a lot of poles around here, so welcome! I'll definitely check out your app. Dzień dobry!

Great polish :P If you want to say goodbye or have a nice day though you should say "do widzenia" or "miłego dnia";)

Thanks!

What was your training routine like? How many hours a week did you spend coding/learning over the past year?

The most important thing for me was to learn at the morning and not evenings. I cannot concentrate when it's late.

I tried to solve real life problems with programs that I wrote for training - however small the problem might be ;)

I spent 6-8h a day sometimes less sometimes more.

I'm someone who knows pretty much nothing about coding.

What are some simple stuff anyone can do to get into coding? (Like what are simple coding things anyone can do in a short amount of time to see a result on a laptop?)

That may seem like a stupid question.

Where did you learn to do it? There are some websites for beginners I've heard are they useful?

Well try to search tutorials for absolute beginners. Language isn't that important for now. You just need to learn how to think like a computer - step-by-step thinking.

When you choose tutorial you can find suitable enviroment - this can be simple online playground like this: http://sandbox.onlinephpfunctions.com/ or for example Visual Studio.

Try to do everything that tutorial/book says - even if you totally understand the code. Practice makes perfect :)

Check out my other answeres, I pased some links to books/videos I used.

How did you develop for all three of those platforms? Did you write for one and then port to the other two?

I used C#, Xamarin and Monogame to share code between platforms. You need to write once and then you can simply copy-paste most of your code to make it running. Very handy :)

~90% of my code is a shared code.

Hi! Thanks for this AMA. How much money did you spent on?: 1. promoting your game 2. publishing on stores(play store, app store etc.) 3. other developers, for example: designers etc. if so. 4. buying software for development (IDEs , cloud services etc.) 4. buying hardware for development

Did you started migrating to Unity or for now it's just a plan? Any thoughts on this? Thanks and good luck in coding!

1. Nothing yet - just ~$50 to try facebook and adwords. Nothing more for now but I'm afraid I will have to

2. Play Store: $25, App Store: $99, Microsoft Store: $0.

3. I only paid friend of a friend for designing graphics but I really can't say how much.

4. Only software I needed to buy was Xamarin subscription ($50/month). Everything else is free for small developers.

5. (Unity) No I just started to learn how it all works. But I really like it - makes many things much much easier than it is with Monogame.

How did you stay motivated? Did you work another job at the time or just develop the game fulltime?

I was learning for ~9months and then ~3 months was building my game. Everything full time.

I was always studying at morning - evenings doesn't work.

I stayed motivated because I liked what I was doing. Especially since I've started my game. It's super interesting for me so I wanted to go back to it the next day.

How hard is it to make a living as a programmer/game dev? How much money do you get from this game?

I didn't earn almost nothing up to date. You need to get tens of thousands downloads to make a living out of it. I'm talking about game only with ad banner in it like mine. You can monetize game more effectively or make it paid.

It's not a simple market but when you get through certain level you can make good money out of it...

Coding is something I've wanted to do for a long time. I tried codeacademy.com but wasn't able to stick with it, I felt like I wasn't learning anything. How did you get started? Did you get a textbook, or did you use a website?

Let me paste my anwser to another question:

I started with books (1, 2), tutorials and videos (1, 2). Then more books, more videos and more tutorials :P

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Thanks :)

Are you going to release source code for your game?

I don't think so.

How do you motivate yourself during times you can't figure out how to code something?

There were times when I was really stuck. Sometimes I tried to do something else but sometimes it was impossible. Sometimes I left a program for a while - even hole day. If it didn't help I tried to ask somebody online - there are many helpful people out there! :)

I was wondering what your background in front end design? For me as a developer, front end is difficult (not an artist at all). We're there any good tutorials that you found to help out?

Good job on your first app.

Unfortunetely I'm not any kind of artist at all. For my game I asked friend of a friend to design something. Cost me some money, but this is the first thing user sees so that's crutial for app to succeed.

I am pretty passionate about programming and I want to get into developing apps similarly to you. My biggest fear is that I will get stuck on a certain segment of code and it will be tough to stay motivated to get past it. How do you get past something like this?

Yeah there are situations like that. They aren't pretty but I managed to get through or around every problem I encountered.

If it's possible - leave it for a while and see this with fresh eye. If you're really stuck you can always use forums or websites like stackoverflow. There are many helpful people there and won't make fun of you :)

I'm looking for an app developer to create something For me. What qualities should I look for in them? What's the best way to find an experienced pro online?

Well for me quality of the product would be the most important thing. I hate when somebody releases buggy app or doesn't care if something works fine or not.

But where to find somebody like this? Have no idea. Every country/state have it's own websites...

What programming languages did you learn? Do you recommend any books or websites for learning these languages?

I learned C#. There are many tutorials/videos/books to start with. I started with books (1, 2) and videos (1, 2).

I'm (15) currently learning c++ and have been for about a year now. What language(s) have you learned so far?

I didn't want to learn multiple languages - just one (C#) but well. From the old days I remember some PHP stuff.

From what it looks like - I'm sure it would be easy for me to learn java now, it's very simmilar to C#.

I've decided that I am going to create an iOS app. So I've been reading the Swift reference guide from Apple. You said that you learned C# though. Maybe I'm confused, but I thought iOS apps need to be written in Swift?

No they need to be compiled to certain code but you can write apps for iOS with C#. You can write Android apps with C# too. That's one of the reasons I chose to learn C#...

Literally anyone who works with software could make a similar humblebrag to yours, as long as they were referring to a long enough period of time (Like 30 years, when they were in diapers.) How do you feel about that?

You could say it about anything.