Suggestion for potential young dev

[Jackolantern]

I spoke with an old friend from years back tonight, and she has a 10 year-old son. She was telling me that he actually is really into taking things apart. She said he even has taken apart non-functioning cameras (from vintage cameras from the 1940's through the digital cameras of the 2000's!) and putting them back together, fully working. She has to hide electronics from him because he takes them apart for his "projects" where he tries to change the way they work, and while she wants to feed his seemingly above-average intellect, it has become a problem that she can't keep things in the house (he also sometimes smarts-off to strangers, which is embarrassing for her lol).

I asked her if he liked video games, and she said he does. I suggested she see if he has an interest in programming games. My immediate thought was "Game Maker" since A. it is free, and B. it is a very easy introduction and will teach him that a game can take a long time to make something special while still giving him fairly fast and interactive results. I figured I could show him Dark Basic Pro if he wants something a bit deeper than Game Maker after playing around with it for a while, then maybe C# and XNA if he wants to take it that far.

Do you think Game Maker was a good suggestion for a 10-year old? He seems very intelligent, but he still is only 10, so I thought it may be a bit much to suggest something like DBPro which could overwhelm him from the start. The free Unity would be a good choice if not for the need for large amounts of 3D models which a 10-year old may have a hard time getting. Can you think of something that may have been better?

[Last Known Hero]

I would definitely suggest getting him into programming. If I had the attention span or the will to learn programming I think it would be very fun to do.. I would still do art personally but that's because I've always been into art.,,

Anyways, I don't know anything about programming but the kid sounds very intelligent. I would start him off with unity, and a fistful of tutorials or start him with, or like you said, DBPro, sure it would be overwhelming at first but he sounds like he could use a challenge.

[Jackolantern]

Thanks for the suggestions! I do actually think that maybe I underestimated him a bit, and started regretting the Game Maker suggestion right after I got off the phone (hence why I made this thread). I think Unity or DBPro may have been a good choice. I will probably talk to her in a few days and I will let her know about those options as well. That way she can just show him their websites and let him choose what he wants to do.

[kaos78414]

I started learning about web development at 12 years old. I wish I hadn't gave up on it from 15-19 though, else I'd be much better than I am now.

I remember I delved into C for awhile. I was still 12, after I had built some silly Dragon Ball Z fan site that got no traffic, I decided it was time to build a video game. My mom bought me a book that came with some software, like a compiler and some kind of model animator. It was a bit over my head at the time, but I was probably not nearly as smart as this kid.

Anyway, sounds like a good idea to me. If he's analytical like he sounds, he'll love programming.

[Noctrine]

Just exposing him to programming would be a loss, if the stuff works when the kid puts it back together he could have potential for engineering. I recommend she gets him the Lego Mindstorms robotics kit, or a Vex robotics kit. Tell him to look for the FIRST robotics program in his area.

Telling him to go with GameMaker or Unity (or any engine that does 90% of the work for you) is nice, but it would only give him superficial exposure to what it means to be a game programmer. And if it all works out for him, like it probably will, he will probably just become complacent.

At that age a real challenge could be pretty good, especially since he is in a far better position to learn and retain information than people younger than him. Some of the best programmers I know started getting into real programming around that age.

http://www.vexrobotics.com/
http://mindstorms.lego.com/en-us/Default.aspx

There are a few more things that I'd recommend, (rocketry is hellafun) but at a point it becomes cost prohibitive so yeah...
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I think the best part of these kits (especially the lego kit) is that he can constantly break it down reprogram it and re-purpose it mitigating some of his destructive potential to his parents possessions. Alternatively, she can give him some old electronics stuff, when I was little I used to play around with old radios, tv sets and vcrs.

Lets see, after he gets bored of that stuff I recommend pointing him in the direction of http://hackaday.com, get him an Andurio board and let him go wild.

[SpiritWebb]

i would have to agree with Noctrine. Lego Mindstorms would be a good place to go. I have that kit, and would recommend it too anyone...

[Jackolantern]

While Mindstorm would be a great thing for him, it is also a bit expensive. While I may be able to make the argument of "the long-term cost of lost electronics vs. the cost of Mindstorm", it may be a hard sell due to the price. One of the real pluses to programming was that you can basically do it for free if you have an internet-connected computer. Although I do admit that would be a great choice. I will talk to her about it. Thanks!

[Baseball435]

i personally think this kid is going to be into robots and making them. but robots take programming and well if anything i would start him off with some type of programming language that will teach him the basics of OOP. Maybe visual basic. If he wants to get into game programming i would suggest unity too just because it is probably the best program to make advanced games the way you want them to be. Also i think game maker is a joke. Get him into something real that he could apply to in life later. I really never got into gamemaker and dont suggest it. Just my thoughts!

~baseball435

[Callan S.]

What's wrong with game maker? People sell game maker made games? And make money?


Anyway, your not exactly deciding his future for him. Your offering exposure to something - he'll decide if he adopts it and for how long, by his will. Just tell the kid there's more than just the programming language you showed him - it'll stick in his brain that there are other options he could take at a latter junction. The only problem comes up where you only show one thing and act as if that's the only option.

[Noctrine]

Nothing is really wrong with Game Maker, its just like Game Programming Lite. The same with Unity really, (Though I reallllly love Unity). Visual Basic is a dead language, and VB.NET is pretty useless. In short, good gateway tools, but I've seen far more people just grow complacent using them.

As far as selling Mindstorms the cost of devices is definitely a good sell route. New TV? 400, new Mindstorms bot 200. There are also competitions and stuff that could lead to real money and even scholarships for him in the future (not to mention what a general education in robotics could net him) I find that the "You may not have to pay for your kid to go to college" is the best way to get parents really excited about it.

Also, related. This is a discussion that has been had on the Programmers Stack Exchange: http://programmers.stackexchange.com/qu ... rogramming

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Also yeah, that's why I said you could let him hack away at old tech. When my mom couldn't afford a Mindstorms kit for me, so I kind of just tore away at whatever I got the option to. Worked out pretty well for me though (although, I'm a software developer and not an engineer).

Another thing I recommend, check to see if your area has any youth engineering programs. In my area there is a program called DAPCEP who's purpose is pretty much to inspire kids by giving them these tools.