How I Became a Programmer
Tags: beginners, career, discuss
Published: 2019-04-03 02:35:47

---
title: How I Became a Programmer
published: true
tags: beginners, career, discuss
canonical_url: https://victorzhou.com/blog/how-i-became-a-programmer/
---

It all started when I was 12 years old. 👶

Back in those days, my friends and I all played [Runescape](https://www.runescape.com), a popular browser-based [MMORPG](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massively_multiplayer_online_role-playing_game). Those who’ve played Runescape will remember that it requires lots of [grinding](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grinding_(gaming)) - the “best” players were the ones who spent the most time killing monsters and leveling up. Unfortunately, my parents didn’t let me play much - all of my friends had passed level 50 by the time I reached level 30. This level gap was [[all I worried about day and night because nobody wants to play with someone 20 levels below them]] somewhat frustrating.

The obvious solution was to

1. Make a better version of Runescape that required less grinding, and then
2. Convince millions of players to play my version instead.

With this foolproof 2-step plan in place, I set out to complete Step 1. I remember googling ”_How was Runescape made_,” reading that it was built in Java, and then googling ”_How to code in Java_.” Over the next 20 minutes, I would come to realize that learning Java on your own as a 12-year-old is not that easy. Thus, I made the brilliant decision to pivot: I would now make a better version of Runescape **_without writing any code_**. _I’ll just skip the parts that require coding_, I thought. _This way, I’ll finish it faster, too._ See? Brilliant.

I ended up actually finding a way to make games without writing code: [GameMaker](https://www.yoyogames.com/gamemaker). I downloaded it and began making simple, codeless games. One of my favorite memories from middle school was bringing a USB loaded with a [Space Invaders](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Invaders)-style game I’d made to the computer lab and passing it around between my friends. That proud feeling of seeing people use something I built has been driving me ever since.

Despite my ambitions, I eventually realized that you can’t actually do much without writing code. Luckily, GameMaker supported a proprietary programming language called the [GameMaker Language](https://docs.yoyogames.com/source/dadiospice/002_reference/001_gml%20language%20overview/) (GML) that had lots of examples and tutorials for it online. I reluctantly decided to learn a bit of GML so I could make more advanced games (read: Runescape). Those were my first `if` statements and `for` loops! That’s right. **My first programming language was GML**. 😲

Ever since those first few lines of GML, I’ve been hooked. In 9th grade, I began making iOS apps and competing in programming competitions. Out of high school, I landed my first software engineering internship and started more seriously pursuing a career in tech. In college, I got into web development and sold my first website.

To summarize: I’ve spent a decade learning and building and _still_ haven’t taken down Runescape 😡. I guess everyone has their white whale…

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_Originally published at [victorzhou.com](https://victorzhou.com)_.