How I got started with programming (Javascript is Cool!)

I got started with web programming using a free tool called Goetz's Programming Kit by Lawrence Goetz. It's a simple Javascript tutorial meant beginners. It's just a zip file with HTML files and you open it on a web browser. I don't remember how I stumbled upon the author's website but I give credit to him for starting my programming journey. I was so happy back then that I emailed the author with a thank you message full of exclamations 😂 which is still gladly published on his website's feedback page:

...you might have fun reading other people's feedback there as well :)

I think I was in high school then. For someone trying so hard to understand programming, the tutorial was fun and easy to understand, and non judgemental. It makes you feel like you achieved something great, or in my own words.. COOL! I was nerdy and very much into computer stuff but I wouldn't think of myself as highly intelligent for my age. I can say I'm very curious. That tutorial is just basic things like alert messages, confirm dialogs, prompts. I think it was mostly like, really I can do that? It made me feel like I can actually be a programmer.

I guess one problem with the younger generation is AI makes everything so easy. One prompt can instantly generate a professional cookie cutter result. It makes it no longer fun to be a beginner and experiment with simple dumb things. Because why bother? Is it a waste of time to learn the basics?

I'm not sure if a child will still experience the excitement I felt when I got to show an alert message in the browser. It looked like I real program, not just plain HTML!

When everything is so easily accessible, it takes away the motivation to try and learn the basic things. You always ask yourself, is it needed? Or is it just a waste of time? Why go through being mediocre? There's no fun in that! Why not go straight to the result?

When I was having fun making simple websites, nobody probably visits it other than myself. It's nice that we had Geocities and Tripod back then where we can host websites for free. We even put a silly guest counter and guestbook. Good thing blogs still exist, but becoming rare.

One of the more meaningful project I did was the website for my highschool batch. It felt more interactive, because at least my classmates had fun with it.

I'm the type of programmer who never deeply learned things like C or assembly, I never had an interest for it. It felt too hard and cumbersome. First thing I learned from school is Qbasic, but just the "Hello World" example. It's a bit fun but not really that interesting. After displaying the Hello World, I asked myself, what can I really do with this? Who will want to use this?

What got me hooked was HTML and Javascript. It's fun and an easy gateway. It's just like making a powerpoint presentation, but more advanced, like for web browsers, which was still a new thing back then. It felt exciting, and the web was rapidly developing. Browsers had to catch up and new web standards are coming up all the time. Every new browser version brings cool new features. I remember getting super excited about Internet Explorer 5 and Mozilla Firefox. Standard apps that we just take for granted nowadays.

I'm not sure how this new generation will get excited with simple things again.