Learn to Code via StarCraft
The skills of Web Development are not acquired all at once. You don’t have to be nerdy or super smart either though if you want to call me either I will take it as a compliment. My love for coding and design came as a seed from, yes, wait for it, video games! And it was actually through game software and tools that I first learn to code. I probably started playing StarCraft around the time I was 12. Prior to the age of 14 when my friend moved my world was limited to the campaign and LAN gaming which I can thank my brother for the gift of LAN. Boy were those the days! However, I digress, my friend moved over 200 miles away when I turned 14 and it opened the world of battle.net an online gaming platform for StarCraft that allowed you to play with other users across the world (assuming that they had registered in your region) you could play against anyone and you could also play ‘custom games’ this in my opinion was the best part. Gamers could use the same tools used to build the Campaign of StarCraft to build their own ‘mini games’ and host matches. They could create completely different concepts than what was originally intended, there was a lot of creativity.
At some point I determined I wanted to learn how to do this as well. So I invested the time and started playing around with the ‘Campaign Editor’ the free software provided that gave all the textiles they had used throughout the game, the units everything to create your own idea. I remember it being confusing. But I remember being very interested and wanting to really come up with something creative! In the end if we look back it was very basic concepts I came up with but the real important part of the story is using their software I began to do very ‘high-level’ coding, if you aren’t familiar with coding terminology this may be confusing. When coding with a ‘high-level’ language it is not that you are more advanced but that the code is more advanced in that it does most of the work for you. Whereas a low-level language like C would require you to create alot of the skeleton before you even started doing anything.
Today I have recently graduated with my Bachelor’s of Science in Computer Information Technology with an Emphasis in Web Design & Development. Looking back it is amazing to think that this journey started over 10 years ago with video games. What is great is that I can used coding to pursue nearly any interest I have. If I still love gaming and create my own sites about them or work for a company doing software engineering to develop video games. If I love sports I can work for ESPN and help in a variety of ways to create applications my fellow sports fans will love. If I am into the military there are a multitude of jobs requiring my skills and I could use them to serve my country. No matter your interest you can take the same pleasure you had in solving video games to solving real life problems and give solutions that help others, increase revenue or accomplish goals.
I feel if I had a mentor I would have such a greater understanding now than I did then and I would have been able to understand so much more. My goal is share my love of coding with others through hosting regular Twitch Streams which will also post to YouTube of learning to code with the StarCraft Campaign Editor. They won’t be perfect but they will follow the real process of development and coming to a solution. It is m hope that by doing so I can light the fire of a love for coding in others and help them to do something they may not have thought possible. So whether you are young or old, I hope you follow the stream, learn and most of all, have fun!