Software has a problematic child prodigy mythos and I seriously doubt that anyone who feels a need to bring up the fact that they fucked around with a basic interpreter in elementary school isn't at all trying to exploit that.
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My interest in programming was obvious very early, my fifth grade year book says I want to be a web developer when I grow up, and in the subsequent seven years of screwing around on my own I didn't learn a thing that I wouldn't have learned much faster in my first year of college
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What you study as an adult is so much more relevant to your capabilities now than any childhood "years of experience" that mentioning them can't be much other than an attempt to mislead
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In high school we listened to an awful motivational speaker; he was a bodybuilder and his theme was that anybody can achieve anything if they work hard at it. He also told an anecdote about how he lifted a car when he was six or something. That's what programmers sound like.
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From the feedback you get from programming in school or a job, you learn what you did wrong. From the feedback you get programming when you are ten, you learn that you are smarter than all the other kids.
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Might be true for a lot of people, but not all. I'm 21 now, do you think writing github.com/taktoa/OscFind (and others) from the ages of 13-18 was relevant to my day job writing Haskell now? I'd argue it put me ahead a fair bit, and I'd be annoyed if someone said it was valueless.
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You're probably a couple years ahead of your colleagues, yes. If that fact is still relevant for you to tell people ten years from now, I'd be worried.
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This is one of the reasons why I value the incredible professionalism, and varied life experiences of career changers. They are always so cool to talk to and learn from! Let's welcome them into our communities, hire more of them, learn from them, and be friends! 🤩😍
Oh, and damn I wish I could write a book. That's a seriously cool thing to be able to do. 👏