2008-07-06, 02:35 AM
Well, let me tell you how I'm doing it, and perhaps you can learn some stuff from me.
Everything started for me last year in April. I wanted to figure out what was in the WZ files. When I googled for it, I found the topic over at Xentax forums. After using the unpacker there, I was fascinated to find the fourth job skills in there. Now, no one had written about it, but eventually I decided I wanted to do it.
The community response was incredible after I started writing about it. I felt good about what I was doing. Soon afterwards, I began rewriting the unpacker, little by little, until gradually I've practically rewritten the whole damn thing. I learned a lot about programming constructs and optimization. Eventually, I took the program from taking 2 full hours to unpack 600MB of WZ files down to just 25 minutes on almost 1 GB of WZ files.
During the better portion of last year, I dreamed, slept, and lived by those WZ files. I breathed its very essence. I knew them inside and out. My popularity grew. I cracked the new encryption methods. I became utterly fascinated by the new doors that opened up for me as I acquired new skills and got better at unpacking. I wrote new scripts to aide me in displaying the information. I did everything I could to get information from the WZ files to the forums, including detailed diagrams (still use them from time to time).
The whole point of this is that you have to love something so deeply as to make you want to get up and work with it all day. As of right now, I spend the better portion of every day working with WZ files, encryptions, and administering this website. It's my life right now. I'm having a blast.
So here are some things you should be able to take from my story here.
The question isn't, "Where to start?" It's, "Where to end?" It's obvious you want to do something with programming. You've already researched Digipen and Full Sail, and while I wouldn't exactly recommend those schools I'd say that the general application of "programming" right now is a good place to start since you want to finish as a programmer.
Read, read, read, read, read! Read everything you can. Learn why "using namespace std;" is in almost every program. Learn about basic programming constructs. Don't just lock yourself into C++. Learn why other languages are better at certain things (Why should I program something in Java rather than C++?). Learn what natural advantages some programming languages have (like Java's portability and C's breakneck speed). Love what you're doing. Never stop programming. Think about programming every moment of the day. Wake up to program. Love it. Breathe it.
Grab it by the horns, and by God's will never stop running.
Everything started for me last year in April. I wanted to figure out what was in the WZ files. When I googled for it, I found the topic over at Xentax forums. After using the unpacker there, I was fascinated to find the fourth job skills in there. Now, no one had written about it, but eventually I decided I wanted to do it.
The community response was incredible after I started writing about it. I felt good about what I was doing. Soon afterwards, I began rewriting the unpacker, little by little, until gradually I've practically rewritten the whole damn thing. I learned a lot about programming constructs and optimization. Eventually, I took the program from taking 2 full hours to unpack 600MB of WZ files down to just 25 minutes on almost 1 GB of WZ files.
During the better portion of last year, I dreamed, slept, and lived by those WZ files. I breathed its very essence. I knew them inside and out. My popularity grew. I cracked the new encryption methods. I became utterly fascinated by the new doors that opened up for me as I acquired new skills and got better at unpacking. I wrote new scripts to aide me in displaying the information. I did everything I could to get information from the WZ files to the forums, including detailed diagrams (still use them from time to time).
The whole point of this is that you have to love something so deeply as to make you want to get up and work with it all day. As of right now, I spend the better portion of every day working with WZ files, encryptions, and administering this website. It's my life right now. I'm having a blast.
So here are some things you should be able to take from my story here.
The question isn't, "Where to start?" It's, "Where to end?" It's obvious you want to do something with programming. You've already researched Digipen and Full Sail, and while I wouldn't exactly recommend those schools I'd say that the general application of "programming" right now is a good place to start since you want to finish as a programmer.
Read, read, read, read, read! Read everything you can. Learn why "using namespace std;" is in almost every program. Learn about basic programming constructs. Don't just lock yourself into C++. Learn why other languages are better at certain things (Why should I program something in Java rather than C++?). Learn what natural advantages some programming languages have (like Java's portability and C's breakneck speed). Love what you're doing. Never stop programming. Think about programming every moment of the day. Wake up to program. Love it. Breathe it.
Grab it by the horns, and by God's will never stop running.