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Geek Culture / 14-Year-Old Prodigy Programmer Dreams In Code!!!! (I found this on youtube)

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TodeGamer
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Posted: 28th Jan 2014 15:05 Edited at: 28th Jan 2014 23:57
Are you going to believe this!!? He is only 14 and have about 15 apps in Apple apps Store!!!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBXZWB_dNsw

Fourteen-year-old programmer and software developer Santiago Gonzalez might just be the next Steve Jobs. He already has 15 iOS apps to his name and dreams of designing for Apple. At age 12, Santiago became a full-time college student and is on track to earn his bachelor's degree in computer science and electrical engineering by age 16. By 17, when most teenagers are excited to just have their driver's license, Santiago will have his masters degree.

A self-professed computer nerd, Santiago is fluent in a dozen different programming languages and thousands of people have downloaded his apps for the Mac, iPhone and iPad.

Learn how Santiago's parents overcame a rigid school system that left their son intellectually stifled and depressed and instead followed an unconventional pathway to nurture his incredible gifts. Santiago's story is truly inspiring and his family's experience provides a powerful model for parents of exceptionally gifted children.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWny9lZ9fM8

Fourteen-year-old programmer and software developer Santiago Gonzalez is fluent in a dozen different programming languages and already has 15 original iOS apps to his name. Thousands of people have downloaded his apps for the Mac, iPhone and iPad.

In this special PRODIGIES video, Santiago shows us three of his favorite iPad apps and talks about his design process.

Santiago is obsessed with minimal, elegant design and dreams of designing for Apple one day. Could he just be the next Steve Jobs? Only time will tell...

To check out and download Santiago's apps, visit his website: www.Hicaduda.com

PRODIGIES is a bi-weekly series showcasing the youngest and brightest as they challenge themselves to reach new heights and the stories behind them.

I love to make games

http://www.youtube.com/user/thespicy847
Libervurto
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Posted: 28th Jan 2014 19:27
Power to him, but personally I think that video was a load of pap.


Formerly OBese87.
Phaelax
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Posted: 28th Jan 2014 20:04
"Fluent" in a dozen languages by 14? I find that quite hard to believe. I'd like a list of the languages and to know what they consider to be fluent. Could he be a savant? Possibly. He is obviously very talented, but I wrote pacman at his age before I had the abundance of internet help and teachers to show me how to code. You could say I'm a little jealous of the tools available for kids to learn programming these days versus when I was that age, but I'm not ready to call him a prodigy just yet. Just a very big computer nerd like us!

nonZero
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Posted: 28th Jan 2014 23:01
Phaelax, I totally agree. Being "Fluent" in a language is different from being able to code. I can't watch the vids (bandwidth limit) but I'm guessing his apps are basic things like games. I, too, had no internet growing up. My first PC was a 286 with a monochrome monitor. I taught myself QBasic by examining the example code. I made plenty of games ( among them 3 quizz games, 3 shooters and battleships). I was 11 when I made my first quizz game. Yep, I had figured out how to talk to the PC but I knew nothing about programming fundamentals. Does that make me a genius? No. Would my life have been lile this kid's had I been born into the modern era with facilities, internet, etc? Probably not since I lack commitment, but who knows.
I've met people who started coding even younger than. I'll say this: programming is something anyone reasonably intelligent can do. I'm not saying this kid isn't a genius since I don't know him, just saying I'm skeptical as well about "fluent" and I don't think it's that big a deal for a 14 year-old to be able to code, considering that even this site actually caters to kids.

"You realise you're not nearly as funny as you think you are," said Onii-chan.

"I know that, which means I must be as funny as I think I am; in a paradoxical sort of way," I replied.
mr Handy
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Posted: 28th Jan 2014 23:07
Quote: "Is prodigy programmer the next Steve Jops?"

The answer is no.
Indicium
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Posted: 29th Jan 2014 00:20
Are we all missing the fact that he'll be graduating with a computer science degree at the age of 17? That's quite an achievement.

\r\nThey see me coding, they hating. http://indi-indicium.blogspot.co.uk/
easter bunny
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Posted: 29th Jan 2014 01:20
I wouldn't call this kid a prodigy. After all, I was reading my older brothers university text books at 10, and playing university grade piano at 12. That doesn't make me a prodigy, above average, sure, but not a prodigy.

This kid on the other hand:

But yet again, it's so fantasized. Sure he's definitely amazing, but ANY master can play twice a good as him.


btw: search 'Hicaduda' on iTunes. That brings up a list of the 14 year old's apps

The Next
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Posted: 29th Jan 2014 01:25 Edited at: 29th Jan 2014 01:29
I am pleased for him, however I would say that focusing too much on education can be very unhealthy. I doubt he is building up good social skills with people his own age and may struggle as a result.

One thing is certain though, he is one smart kid.

Like easter bunny said not really a prodigy, studying a degree at that age is impressive but his programming skills are not, I was writing complicated programs at that age in PHP and Java and I know many others that made programs (not apps they weren't around in the form we know then) at a young age.

Looking at his website though I would suggest he is not fluent in HTML or CSS and needs a lesson in not using tables for all his layouts.

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Dark Java Dude 64
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Posted: 29th Jan 2014 01:57
I was the age of 14, when I wrote a program that used brute math to render a spinning 3D cube on the screen; no 3D libraries at all. The only command that I ever used to put anything on the screen at all was the dot x,y,rgb command, and from there I had a controllable, colored, 3D cube being rendered.

I wrote my first program at the age of 11, and I wrote my first game at the age of 12. It's been several years, and that remains the only game I have finished.

Libervurto
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Posted: 29th Jan 2014 02:16
Quote: "I wrote my first program at the age of 11, and I wrote my first game at the age of 12. It's been several years, and that remains the only game I have finished."


"Is prodigy programmer the next Dark Java Dude?"

\r\nFormerly OBese87.
Dark Java Dude 64
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Posted: 29th Jan 2014 02:23 Edited at: 29th Jan 2014 02:24
Quote: "Is prodigy programmer the next Dark Java Dude?"
At the current rate of me never finishing anything at all, YES.

OOOHH derp. I am getting tired of replying to posts before I know what they mean. I do understand what you're saying, now.

Fuzz
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Posted: 29th Jan 2014 04:45
I just wish I could code at all. I'm going insane, I have so many game ideas, concept art and everything but I can't create my ideas.

No, seriously, I may be going crazy.

Phaelax
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Posted: 29th Jan 2014 09:55
Quote: "This kid on the other hand:"

That's not a prodigy, that's an asian, completely different!

The Zombie Killer
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Posted: 29th Jan 2014 11:03 Edited at: 29th Jan 2014 11:04
While he appears to be very intelligent, he's definitely not a prodigy.
Anyone with half a brain and some patience can program. I was programming at around age 10, granted, I wasn't anywhere NEAR as good as I am right now, but I was still programming.

The main thing he has that I don't, is motivation

(to clarify, I've dreamed in code many times before, all it takes is for you to be trying to solve the problem as you go to sleep )

Kezzla
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Posted: 29th Jan 2014 11:47
Quote: "to clarify, I've dreamed in code many times before, all it takes is for you to be trying to solve the problem as you go to sleep"


lol, that happened to me the other night, the poor bugger in my dream that had to solve the problem for me had the fate of the world on his shoulders, and it took him a few goes to get an acceptable answer to the problem. by the last time he was sweating and nervous and the council I had assembled was losing patience. But he solved it... and to be honest I didn't end up using his idea. but he deserves recognition for working the whole night very diligently.

I remember when I was studying IT, I had gone to sleep studying and that night every time I turned over in be I had to reconfigure my Bios so that my body could be recognized by reality. it was a long night with much semi-conscious awakeness.



so far as the kid goes, best of luck to him, he has a pretty good start under his belt already.

Ok, Jokes over, No more eye burn.
wattywatts
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Posted: 29th Jan 2014 12:27
I started programming when I was 12 - unfortunately it was only QBasic.

New sig coming soon..
nonZero
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Posted: 29th Jan 2014 13:00
Quote: "unfortunately it was only QBasic."


QBasic was not a bad language for beginners (DBP is very influenced, imho, by it). I've seen people do amazing things in QBasic, including a top-down RPG in Mode 7 (I think it was Screen Mode 7) and, similar to what DBD mentioned, a 3D model (used the LINE command and brute-math). As I mentioned, I, too,began in QB like many other kids. Nothing unfortunate about it. Imagination is your only limit. My last game had a set of full graphics created by drawing on-screen and copying/pasting. There's an old archive somewhere filled with QB programs and all you need to run them is an emulator. I believe there's even a compiler out now that'll compile them into executables.

"You realise you're not nearly as funny as you think you are," said Onii-chan.

"I know that, which means I must be as funny as I think I am; in a paradoxical sort of way," I replied.
mr Handy
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Posted: 29th Jan 2014 13:22
Quote: "Are you going to believe this!!? He is only 14"

He was born in 2000. You all started to code when PC coding was new, complicated and hardware limited thing. Do you remember how to properly set IRQ when installing Win 95? How to use MS-DOS? And he has new and shiny "plug and play", windows 7 and DirectX 11.

I'd like to see him coding on a Windows 3.1 machine, builded and installed also by him. Without Internet manuals.

Quote: "electrical engineering by age 16."

He is too young to read enough books and to have enough experience. Achievment is very doubtful.
Libervurto
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Posted: 29th Jan 2014 17:06 Edited at: 29th Jan 2014 17:07
Quote: "lol, that happened to me the other night, the poor bugger in my dream that had to solve the problem for me had the fate of the world on his shoulders, and it took him a few goes to get an acceptable answer to the problem. by the last time he was sweating and nervous and the council I had assembled was losing patience. But he solved it... and to be honest I didn't end up using his idea. but he deserves recognition for working the whole night very diligently."

If I had a dream like that the solution would be something like, "Attach the chicken to the thing that doesn't actually exist and hey presto!"

[off-topic] The betaforum loads so much faster than the old one!


Formerly OBese87.
Phaelax
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Posted: 29th Jan 2014 17:37
Quote: "Do you remember how to properly set IRQ when installing Win 95? How to use MS-DOS?"

You mean back when those were valid questions on an A+ exam instead of asking how to handle customer service? Yea I remember. When you had to adjust jumpers on the motherboard just to upgrade your ram!

I don't see why coding in Win 3.1 would make any difference. The environment he's coding in might be different, but the language wouldn't. I think he would get by somewhat. Someone with that much interest in a subject will find a way to learn it. Although it might have been more difficult for him back then and may not have progressed as far as he would today, I'd still give him credit.

Kevin Picone
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Posted: 29th Jan 2014 18:05
14 and a bucket load of apps, good luck to him !

Rose tinted glasses aside, growing up in an 8bit age, with limited resources and very limited access to information. It made programming much more difficult than today. It seemed like every break through I made, was the result of some trial and error. Often overcoming some giant obstacle of the time, that today is a none issue..

The best thing about learning to program on 8bit systems was it made you think a lot more realistically about what you were doing and how you did it. So you'd strip away 99% of B.S. from your concept just get something on screen doing what you wanted. Which wasn't ever as easy as you imagined it should be.

mr Handy
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Posted: 29th Jan 2014 19:14
Quote: "I don't see why coding in Win 3.1 would make any difference."

Graphics coding requires more skills and sharpness. 3.1 was just an age pointer.

Quote: "Although it might have been more difficult for him back then and may not have progressed as far as he would today,"

Is what I am saying - today it is a way easy but counts as extra skills. Tommorrow coders would use real makegame.dll and they would be counted as gifted fellows

Quote: "I'd still give him credit."

Credit?.. money? I don't understand. But I would have sense to give credit if he do some real things in coding, like Carmack or Crytek, something "beyond today". Now he has not done anything useful. He may do it in future, let's wait.
wattywatts
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Posted: 29th Jan 2014 21:17
Quote: "Although it might have been more difficult for him back then and may not have progressed as far as he would today, I'd still give him credit."

Is it just me or are more kids lazy today as opposed to kids in the 80's and early 90's? It just feels like most people I meet in my age group are tech geeks while most kids have tech but only know how to turn it on and play with it.

New sig coming soon..
Rampage
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Posted: 29th Jan 2014 21:29
Quote: "Is it just me or are more kids lazy today as opposed to kids in the 80's and early 90's?"

Well definitely not this kid. He's graduating from a Compsci degree and has more applications published that 95% of the TGC forums - who have had more time and (probably) more skill to do so.

So his work efficiency is definitely up to scratch - and that's what will get him places. Not a secret bedroom coding ability coupled with a lack of motivation.

Soooo... he is doing quite well for himself yes. And that is good.

They do hype him up a lot though as if he is a godsent prodigy which is kind of stupid.

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Libervurto
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Posted: 29th Jan 2014 22:26
It has just occurred to me why this rubs me the wrong way. The majority of people still view programming as a dark art and something that requires genius levels of intelligence, but that's not true. If you can read, write and solve problems then you can be a computer programmer. And as people have pointed out this is truer today than ever before.

Aside from getting a degree in CompSci at 16 (wow!) he's not really doing anything that unusual and I find it a bit odd they didn't focus on the degree more.

Formerly OBese87.
Phaelax
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Posted: 29th Jan 2014 23:52
I decree, the degree I do agree is the impressive feat here

Burger
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Posted: 30th Jan 2014 00:06
I think we can all agree he is very talented. However, not a prodigy so to speak. To me this is another sensationalised scenario. It always, every time bugs me when media say "Could he be the next Steve Jobs/(insert some famous person here?)". That statement immediately makes me think this is a bit glossy. Needless to say, achieving a masters degree by 17 isn't glossy but talented indeed.

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Libervurto
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Posted: 30th Jan 2014 00:19
I find the whole "The next [person]?" really insulting to both people. For one it says to the original guy that he is just going to be replaced and essentially written out of history, and to the other it says that he is always going to be judged against the original and never be valued for his own achievements.

Formerly OBese87.
bitJericho
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Posted: 30th Jan 2014 04:25
Quote: "So his work efficiency is definitely up to scratch - and that's what will get him places. Not a secret bedroom coding ability coupled with a lack of motivation. "


Why do you gotta put me down like that

Dark Java Dude 64
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Posted: 30th Jan 2014 04:27
Quote: "Not a secret bedroom coding ability coupled with a lack of motivation. "
You just broke the whole forum's heart.

Rampage
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Posted: 30th Jan 2014 10:52
Quote: "Why do you gotta put me down like that."

Quote: "You just broke the whole forum's heart. "


Yes I feel bad now
I have become a little more elitist because of my achievements of late and I apologize and do feel bad of that comment

I truly wouldn't be anywhere without the TGC Forums. They kickstarted my career for sure...

I you all

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Van B
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Posted: 30th Jan 2014 12:22
Matthew Smith was about that age when he wrote Manic Miner, and pretty much started the bedroom coder boom of the 80's. I don't think any of Santiago's games will be remembered like that, it sounds damn jaded but I'd see the point in this if he'd made a succesful game, not just a hackneyed reversi clone or 10.

As impressive as this is - really he isn't doing anything that a lot of people did, do, or will do better in future. I have to agree with Phaelax - there is no way the guy is fluent in umpteen languages - you do not get fluent in a language until you get fluent in a language - even if you know all the commands, that's still not fluency!. He has made iOS apps, so he knows C#, but what else? - why are the details so thin in these stories?, because the truth isn't nearly as impressive as 'whizz-kid-done-good' stories. I blame Malcolm in the Middle, which would have been very popular when this story first aired.

Really, how old is he? - he started making iOS apps in 08, so does that mean he started when he was 7 or 8? - when did he learn twelfty languages. And why do people keep saying they do this that and the other in their sleep... listen - If I play Battlefield4 before going to bed, I'll often dream-play it, because my brain is all amped up on BF4, and brains are addicted to stimulus by default - so it's just our brains going through withdrawal - I doubt anyone has ever done any worthwhile coding while they sleep... that's like me thinking that I should gain XP for playing BF4 in my half-asleep haze. It's weird, we apparently can't die in dreams... but we can respawn!
Now, on the other hand, walking to get some lunch... I'm sure we've all come up with remarkable code solutions during dull times like that

I guess this post might sound negative towards him, but it's really not - it's realism!, this guy shouldn't sit back and wait on the job offers from Apple, because before long the dude will be 30, and having a load of unsuccessful iOS games won't actually get him far - he might be better off adding AppGameKit to his laundry-list of languages.

I am the one who knocks...
wattywatts
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Posted: 30th Jan 2014 13:07 Edited at: 30th Jan 2014 13:07
Quote: "Now, on the other hand, walking to get some lunch... I'm sure we've all come up with remarkable code solutions during dull times like that "

I always have my epiphanies sitting on the pot.

New sig coming soon..
mr Handy
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Posted: 30th Jan 2014 18:35
Quote: "I you all "

Awww. Me is loved.
nonZero
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Posted: 30th Jan 2014 23:17
Some of this discussion made me think back to old days of coding. Anyone remember the pre- syntax highlighting era? You really had to code neatly then. Hell I remember early works where I made something that, especially on my monochrome monitor, was unintelligible. Sure it ran but code reuse was impossible. Hahaha, good times.

"You realise you're not nearly as funny as you think you are," said Onii-chan.

"I know that, which means I must be as funny as I think I am; in a paradoxical sort of way," I replied.
TodeGamer
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Posted: 31st Jan 2014 00:24
I'm now 15. I started to learn programming when I was 13. Even now, I can't make an app like him.

I love to make games

http://www.youtube.com/user/thespicy847
bitJericho
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Posted: 31st Jan 2014 01:55 Edited at: 31st Jan 2014 01:56
Quote: " I have become a little more elitist because of my achievements of late and I apologize and do feel bad of that comment "


Don't feel bad, you speak the truth! I try and push that now that I'm older and wiser. Results are what counts, not talent alone.

mr Handy
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Posted: 31st Jan 2014 09:35
Quote: "Anyone remember the pre- syntax highlighting era?"

00 PRINT "HELLO WORLD"
01 A=1
02 B=2
03 PRINT C
No GUI, monochrome screen and manual line numbering! sweet! Basic was so basic back then
Van B
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Posted: 31st Jan 2014 09:52
Heck, when I learned BASIC it was on a spectrum! - no syntax highlighting, you didn't even type the commands, every key had about 3 commands assigned to it - so rather than just typing PRINT, you had to find the print key...



Before covertapes, magazines would have pages of code examples, full games, demos. Unfortunately most of it was data statements and 1 typo could mean disaster... actually when you spent 4 hours typing a listing, and it worked first time, well it was worth celebrating.

The C64 was a bit better for programming, and the CPC464 was decent as well - but the spectrum could just do things that were a bit more difficult on other systems. Like making a custom font, on the Spectrum you'd design the font in binary strings...

00000000
00011000
00100100
01000010
01111110
01000010
01000010
00000000

Then you'd press the graphics key, and any character then would have your custom font or graphics... so making cool fonts for text adventures etc was really easy.

I am the one who knocks...
Phaelax
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Posted: 31st Jan 2014 22:26
Quote: "Anyone remember the pre- syntax highlighting era?"


If I remember correctly, QB didn't have syntax highlighting either

Libervurto
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Posted: 31st Jan 2014 23:26 Edited at: 31st Jan 2014 23:29
Quote: "If I remember correctly, QB didn't have syntax highlighting either"

That's right, it didn't. I started on QB. I remember that blue background and white text.
I remember my Playstation 2 came with a demo disc that had YaBasic on it. It was a really limited language and made poor use of the hardware (no 3D) but I learned a lot about writing functions on that and it was fun to be able to make something that could be played on a console.

Formerly OBese87.
mr Handy
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Posted: 1st Feb 2014 00:31
I forget what basic I used on this... I guess it was very first one - limited grayscale, manual line numbering.

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