James Newton-King

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Archives / 2008 / July
  • Jul 11 2008

    How I Got Started in Software Development

    We can’t bust heads like we used to, but we have our ways. One trick is to tell ‘em stories that don’t go anywhere. Like the time I caught the ferry over to Shelbyville. I needed a new heel for my shoe, so, I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time. Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on ‘em. "Give me five bees for a quarter," you’d say. Now where were we? Oh yeah - the important thing was that I had an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time. They didn’t have white onions because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones... I have been memed.

    How old were you when you started programming?

    19.

    How did you get started in programming?

    Most of my experience with computers as a teenager was playing computer games. It wasn't until my second year of doing commerce at university that I did a programming paper and really got into it. Oddly I have never had the desire to write a computer game.

    What was your first language?

    Visual Basic 6.

    What was the first real program you wrote?

    Some lameo VB6/Access data entry form for university.

    What languages have you used since you started programming?

    Visual Basic, SQL, PL/SQL, JavaScript, C#, Python, Delphi.

    What was your first professional programming gig?

    Building a transaction management system for a small Internet startup. 

    If you knew then what you know now, would you have started programming?

    Yes.

    If there is one thing you learned along the way that you would tell new developers, what would it be?

    The software development world is a huge place. Don't be afraid to spend a couple of years exploring and finding what you’re most passionate about.

    What’s the most fun you’ve ever had… programming?

    Solving challenging business and technology problems in a simple, maintainable way that hides all the complexity behind a easy to use interface. Json.NET and and the RuntimePageOptimizer are two projects that I have really enjoyed working on.

     

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