What was the first thing you ever coded?
Shopify is bursting with brilliant, tech savvy interns who are launching incredible careers in the tech industry — but they all had to start somewhere.
Knowing how to code empowers people to build the future, and it also opens doors to wonderful careers around the world. Though tremendously rewarding, learning to code can be intimidating — and there are countless ways to get started. Out of curiosity I asked over 100 Shopify interns, “What was the first thing you ever coded?” I’ve included some of their replies below.
“What was the first thing you ever coded?”
My hope is that for those of you (like me) who want to learn more about coding, reading about the starting point for these young developers might light a spark that helps you get started. And for those of you who already code, I’d love to know if you had an altogether different start with coding — please share your stories in the comments below!
Larissa Feng
Conditional Logic Game
• RPG Maker
• Learning age: 14 years
The first time I did anything remotely close to coding was in 8th grade. I was in a high school program with like 30 people and we all knew each other super well, so I decided to make a “game” about our class. I used RPGMaker, which was like a drag-n-drop program. I never actually wrote any code, but I did have to deal with conditionals (if this happens, then do that. etc). I finished the game, sent it out, and didn’t touch code again until 2nd year university. But thinking back to it, that’s where my brain first switched on for coding, since I was already primed to understand conditionals.
Jack McCracken
RuneScape Private Server
• Java, Notepad
• Learning age: 9 years
I started coding because I wanted a RuneScape private server, but I found out it needed this Java thing. I built a RuneScape private server using Java and Notepad when I was 9 years old, and I was inspired by Andrew Gower (the guy who made RS). I learned how to build this via lots of online forums and a series of really bad YouTube videos by a guy called TheNewBoston.
Shilpa Sequeira
BASIC coding
• BASIC
• Learning age: 13 years
My first coding experience would be in high school — we learnt how to write really simple programs in BASIC; I was 13 I think. It was when I took a course in Microprocessors in my undergrad that I realized I loved programming!
Sarth Frey
Basketball playing robot
• C++, Python
• Learning age: 15 years
I learned to code in grade nine so that we could build a robot that played basketball. I learned a ton in addition to coding, including image processing, machine learning, and most importantly how to work in a team! It was a ~120 lbs robot that could load 3 semi-foam basketballs at a time and shoot them into nets that were ~12ft high. I had to learn C++ and Python — C++ for the more rudimentary tasks and Python for the more complex tasks (image processing, statistical processing, etc). It was ~10 people on the core team but most were builders so we really needed some programmers. It was me and one other student who mentored me, and no adults were involved in the building and coding process.
Marek Dlugos
Web Browser
• Visual Basic
• Learning age: 11 years
The first thing I’ve ever coded was my own web browser. I was 11 year old kiddo following tutorials on YouTube. My sister mentioned that I didn’t even know alphabet and was able to type the password on computer as a child. It was me and my online peer with who I was chatting in that time who were always trying to catch up with each other with what new we have learned.
Nicole Mackin
SMIL code
• HTML, SMIL, PHP
• Learning age: 17 years
I didn’t really start coding until I got to university. All my previous experience was with forums that allowed for HTML text input so beyond that I was lost. My first coding project was in SMIL code, which to anyone who knows it is terrible and unsupported by everything. I ended up really struggling in second year when I was introduced to PHP. At the time I was involved in my schools Eng community, and befriended a guy who was, in my opinion, a code genius in Software Eng. He’s actually interned at Shopify and is now at Google, but his hobby was web design. The only problem was that he was horrible at the design part, so we worked out a system where I’d design and he’d code. Eventually I ended up learning so much from this experience that I was ahead of my coursework.
Darren Hebner
High School Band Website
• HTML & CSS
• 17 years
I was playing in a band in high school that wanted to sell our album online. After getting quotes from a couple small web agencies, we realized it was going to be way too expensive to hire someone. So I decided I was going to learn how to build the site myself. After that, other bands started contacting me to see if I would make a site for them as well. I started out with just simple HTML and CSS — once you are comfortable with those languages you can start building some pretty awesome static sites. At the time I didn’t know anyone else who was doing any coding, so everything I learned was from online tutorials. I would find sites that I liked and would dig through their source code to figure out how they did things. It was a loooot of trial and error.
Though my conversations, a pattern between these successful young developers emerged — they each have a propensity to take initiative and teach themselves new skills. Their first projects were often outside of school, and often inspired by a desire to play, experiment or create something new. This ability to take initiative and initiate their own learning is a major part of what allowed them to excel at coding and, I believe, is the quality that will position them for success wherever their careers take them.
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