Comment by jchw
8 years ago
Trust me, there can be downsides to starting early. In my case, I virtually skipped having social interactions not on the internet until I was around 20 or so. Not everyone will have this kind of affliction, but you can't have it all - you gotta choose what's important to you. I hope this doesn't come off as being too negative, I mostly say this because I think you should try to appreciate what you did learn rather than lamenting about not being able to start with coding super early.
...that being said, this is way cleaner than any code I'd written at 12 I'm pretty sure.
With that said, it can also have the opposite effect. Success in online interactions at such an age gave me the confidence I needed to be successful in irl interactions.
> I virtually skipped having social interactions
That was me, too. It was a trade-off for me. I was reading Hawking in primary school and there was no one to talk to, so I was feeling lonely.
Programming was my lifesaving straw, but I don't wish any kid the kind of isolation that I've felt in my youth. I had to learn many of the social stuff later in life so it evens out IMO.
Oh definitely I agree. Gotta find that middle path.