Middle School Student Computer Programming Questions

Hello, I am 13 years old when I get older I want to become a computer programmer. I have learned a bit of html and that was fun but I was wondering what languages I should learn before High school or College.

My next question was if I needed to go to college in the first place and if so what degree. I know of computer science and IT degrees. My computer is pretty good (i5 with a gtx 760) so I can do more advanced things with programming. Also I would love if Wendell (Sorry if spelled wrong) could tell me some stuff because I know he started programming at like 11.

 

Thanks.

Familiarize yourself with C++, lots of other High-level languages are derived from C, or are based off of it. That way you won't feel so lost when you try using Python, Java, or (You mentioned HTML, I'm assuming 5) PHP. There is a plethora of video tutorials and even free PDF's of actual college textbooks about how to use C/C++. Mine is over 1000 pages, so there should be lots of everything you need. :) 

Python is good for learning the basics. Continue learning HTML. It's simple, and can do so much. After you learn Python and HTML, learn C; it's harder than C++, but it's better in the long run.

I started about the same time as you. HTML (along with CSS) is a good thing to know. I started playing with VBScript (though I'm not recommending it). I agree 100% with Dynamic on C++. I'm of course a bit bias as it was my first language. You can do really simple stuff to start out with in the language, which you cannot do in Java. And later you can do some more advanced stuff (like pointers) that you can't do in java. I'm going to also through out C# as a possibility because it's my personally favorite language, and you can use it for ASP.NET webpages (since you already seem to have a handle on HTML). In all reality, it probably doesn't matter what you learn as long as it is still used today.

As far as college goes. Yes, you will need to go. Sure you can program without a degree, I'm sure some of the best programmers in the world didn't go to college for it, however to get a decent job programming, it's kind of a necessity. Also, you will learn a lot of semantics of programming and gain a deeper understanding that what you could otherwise (or at least that's what I tell myself).

As a final note, and I'm not sure if you would be able to easily, but when you get older/more confident, try finding some minimum wage job to program some back-end stuff with someone else at the company. I lucked out and got a job like that my Junior year, and I have learned a ton just from chatting with their other programmer. The programming isn't even remotely difficult on my part, but it makes you think a whole lot different when you realize that others will be looking at both your code and your final product. Also, learn about source control. You don't necessarily need to know a huge amount, but understand the basic concepts, as any company that cares about their programmers uses it.

PS If you're planning to do any web stuff you will have to learn Javascript/JQuery at some point. I feel like a disgusting human being just for mentioning it, but it is the sad reality. (also there is an alternative called TypeScript by MS, but I haven't tried it myself)