When I graduate, I plan to go into computer programing or something of the likes. People Always use the phrase "advanced computer knowledge" to describe the person they need for a job. So the point of this question is to sort of get a feel of how "advanced" or not advanced I am compared to people of my age. I am almost 17 years old, and I feel that I am fluent in 3 computer languages: *php *c++ *flash (learning html5) I also have plenty of knowledge with stuff like MySQL, HTML, CSS, and other small stuff to tie it all together. I have created several different projects for practice, but 2 projects I will tell here. My first project I made when I was 15 was a MS-DOS based game where you try to guess a number between 1-100 a computer had randomly chosen. By the time I was almost 16, it had evolved into a full-screen MS-DOS program that did everything from - use threads to auto-save your progress and how much money you had won in the game and saved it to a .dat file - all the way to - use LibCurl to connect to a webserver and check for updates made to the game, and auto-update if an update had been posted. The other program was a full-fledged c++ game that used Allegro. So instead of MS-DOS, I could have a far better GUI using bitmaps. This was more internet orientated (had to be connected online to play) and sent php _GET requests to a file which redirected the info to a MySQL database to save the users progress in the game. It also had a store in the game where users could purchase new features, backgrounds, and music used within the game. All the store info was downloaded off the server at the time of a user viewing the store, and when a purchase was made, the purchased item was downloaded from the sever and given a unique ID that connected to the copy of the users game so they couldn't share purchases I've also done full php website projects, but for the sake of shortness, i'll keep that out. Main question to you programmers - do you think that I am advanced for my age, or do I not know that there are plenty of other people my age in the computer catagory with vastly more knowledge of this stuff than I have? (to the point where I need to pick it up to be with the herd of people who will end up getting good jobs) 2 hours ago - 4 days left to answer.
Considering your age looks like you got a very good knowledge and programming skill sets. I am sure if you continue to develop this you would eventually become an advanced programmer. As you said you started your first project @ 15 and your current age is around 17.. Its 2 years experience in the field.. There are lot more to learn... And in programming World every day you keep learning something new.. Believe me its fun and you would enjoy this. From the employment perspective... Employers hire Candidates who have vast experience and have proven track record in the specific domain they intend to seek the work/service for. You need to really prove yourself in solving complex problems, be a good team player and productive. If you have 10+ years experience you are for sure gonna be the most deserved candidate for a Senior level programmer job. So keep up your morale and I am sure you would come up with flying colors.. All the best for your future endeavors!
Considering your age, you have pretty good experience. Keep in mind that projects done in small scale have a lot of hacks and compromises. So scaling them up will be difficult or sometimes impossible too. Also in corporates, projects will be very complex. The challenge will be to keep the project manageable yet without compromising on any of the features. When corporates talk advanced programmers, it is not that you will always be inventing new Algorithms and Data structures for your solution, but you will make the project so very simple without much compromises. It all comes with experience only. It is very natural to do a lot of mistakes at the beginning, but you should always be in an auto-corrective mode to find out your own mistakes and correct it immediately. I am sure you will come out with flying colors. Regards, Mike