Developing for a 13 Year Old.

[TheLetterD]

Hello
My younger brother is 13 years old. We bought him a PSP years ago, all he keeps on Doing is looking up Youtube Vid.s , customizing the software adding mods and stuff, for eg. he got a Mod to use PSP as a PC Remote.
Nowadays he keeps looking for GTA San Andreas Mods cuz thats the only Game I have on my PC(I didnt get a graphic card cuz I didnt want another distraction)
Well, I want him to do something constructive, and I thought ... why Not Developing.
I am a total noob to developing too. I dont know anything at all about it, well except HTML,taught to us in school, class 7(100 Marks! )

So my question is:
Is there any software developing that he could get into which is:
1. Interesting
2. Does not consume a lot of time, I want it to be a part of his life, not his life.
3. Doesnt require any pre-requisite knowledge

He seems interested in Modding Android Custom ROMS and creating phone apps.
I know thats .. a bit too much for a 13 year old who doesnt know wny of those languages (JAVA, C and stuff)
And if he CAN make apps and stuff, what does he need to learn first?

Please help!
Thankyou.

 

[krishnandu.sarkar]

Well if he's fond of Custom ROM's and all, you can motivate him to learn and use Linux instead of Windows. In this way he can get into ROM Development.

If he's interested in Phone Apps, you need to specify for which platform.

If it's Android, make him learn Java and then Android Application Development.

You mentioned "Does not consume a lot of time", but development always consumes lot of time because it needs practice to get into real world development.

Well this is the shortest answer, there can be diff views.

 

[Faun]

*love2d.org/

 

[Ridwan Shafi]

Well!! He can use the App inventor to develop Android apps, It is perfect for him coz it is a GUI based Android App Developer and makes developing really easy, Download it from here According to me Java is the main programming language used in mobile devices...IF you want him to learn some developing the you should goto w3Schools.com, It is the best website on the www offering tutorials on development....I am of 16 and when I was 13 Believe me I was the same, playing games and all that, Get him to read diGit and also tell him about robotics it will definitely awake the creative genius in him coz when we see a robot move we get really encouraged (Same is the case with me)......Go here and let him create his robos

 

[JojoTheDragon]

GTA San Andreas for 13 yr old! You got to be kidding me.

 

[koolent]

^^ GTA San Andreas, I played when I were 11 yrs old LOL.. and I can't forget what I learned.. Don't let him touch that game..

 

[acidCow]

Yea I played vice city in class 6. Thats when i discovered mods. Then played San Andreas in class 7. My desktop was full of mods. All the hard work I did (installing mods etc) was for my own entertainment. My dad showed me the magic of dBase is class 5.

I learnt BASIC in class 6 ( mine was 80 marks and i got full! ) I used to be good at them, but trust me they never interested me. I used to write programs for a day at max. Next day I was back seeing youtube vids (My case is exactly like you : No graphics card, only GTA SA ! ) for mods etc.
Then class 8 I played San Andreas Multiplayer the whole year.

Beginning of class 9 , I started playing Flight SImulator 2004 : Again downloading planes, sceneries etc. Then came the era of Facebook. I lost interest in gaming.

Now I'm in class 10 (Boards going on) . I get attracted to seeing vids of Custom ROMS, phone etc .

In between, I guess in class 7, some senior kids made a website which their teacher told in our class. I spent 1 month doing those things and finally i came up with my own. (The seniors had actually made a blog , i realise now! ) I had NO idea of HTML then.

So you see, at this age this how children get interested in different things. Thats my story, your bro MAY like developing (but i'm pretty sure not for long ) . Show him BASIC and dBase first they're pretty easy.

 

[Liverpool_fan]

Udacity - Educating the 21st Century

Let him try CS101 classes, and build a simplistic search engine.

P.S.: Some terribly fail advices here.

 

[TheLetterD]

Thankyou everyone!!

P.S.: Some terribly fail advices here.

Like? Dont worry, you can PM me!

 

[Liverpool_fan]

Make that out yourself. 13 years of age is the person in question, and the age of technology will be some indicators.

 

[cute.bandar]

Kodu from microsoft

Haven't tried it personally but was planning to install it for a 15 year old.

 

[Vyom]

Modding Android custom ROMs, Apps development, BASIC, Udacity, and Kodu from microsoft! Wow man! So many options!

All I was able to learn when I was 13, was ... ... "logo"!!

 

[Desmond]

I say it'd be better to learn C first. It is the easiest and prerequisite for many languages. I was around the same age when I learnt C for the first time.

After C, move to C++ and get a clear idea about OOP, then move on to Java.

 

[Liverpool_fan]

-1 to C. If a language has to be chosen, choose Python or Ruby.

 

[Nipun]

If he likes making games etc, ask him to try GameMaker(yoyogames.com). Its pretty cool to develop games and teaches basics of programming too. I started using this when I was 11, and was able to learn C++ because I knew GameMaker

I say it'd be better to learn C first. It is the easiest and prerequisite for many languages. I was around the same age when I learnt C for the first time.

After C, move to C++ and get a clear idea about OOP, then move on to Java.

I found C++ to be easier than C.

 

[Desmond]

Trust me, C is easier. But, learning C++ in a structured approach before going into OOP is just as easy.

 

[TheLetterD]

Hmmm thanks guys!
For now Ive told him to read Digit. Hes doing that, maybe after a while if he does get interested Ill consider to make himlearn some language. I just dont wanna force him into anything that would just be a time waste.

 

[abhijangda]

^^^ yup thats the best option. When, he will increase his knowledge and will get interested in computer, then move him to programming. For 13 year old Digit reading is better than programming. When, I was in 6th Standard, I started off with Visual Basic 6.

 

[Vyom]

Udacity - Educating the 21st Century

Joined the course today. Although I am a few weeks late, I think I can use it to enter the world of Python.
Completed the first week course so far, and got to tell, Python seems the next gen of Programming language. Way better than C or C++!

 

[Desmond]

Hmmm thanks guys!
For now Ive told him to read Digit. Hes doing that, maybe after a while if he does get interested Ill consider to make himlearn some language. I just dont wanna force him into anything that would just be a time waste.

Try to get him to read developer magazines as well. I am not sure if I can post suggestions regarding the same here.
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