Yes! Definitely paid - but I also worked as a technical writer before my first frontend gig, so that was more blurry. I was writing code as part of my job but didn't feel like a developer yet.
I considered myself a developer when I finally got hired. I considered myself a competent developer once I got to the point where I could meaningfully take part in planning/discussions for an application I didn't have lots of experience with, but I could contribute simply on knowledge of how things should be done.
I was a developer after my first exposure to code, over 31.5 years ago! Unlike most budding coders, I skipped "Hello World" and wrote "Guess the Random Number" as my first program. I even revised it twice: v1.1 added better hints for wrong guesses, and v2.0 added both a special screen for your 1st guess being right, and an Easter egg: Enter 0 as a guess, and the number is revealed. This doesn't increment your guess count either.
When I first started to learn programming, I thought "Once I've completed a lot of large-scale projects, then I'll be a developer!" That whole idea made my have anxiety once I completed a project. I would wonder, "Is this project big enough? Am I a 'developer' now? Do I have enough projects yet?" I've since changed that definition to just anyone who likes to program at all, which I think is a lot better. :)
Oldest comments (16)
When I got paid for the first time :)
Same! Or when I got my first contract with "Developer" in the title 😄
Hopefully that was also the first time you were paid :D
Yes! Definitely paid - but I also worked as a technical writer before my first frontend gig, so that was more blurry. I was writing code as part of my job but didn't feel like a developer yet.
When I wrote a simple `cout << "Hello world"<<endl;
I considered myself a developer when I finally got hired. I considered myself a competent developer once I got to the point where I could meaningfully take part in planning/discussions for an application I didn't have lots of experience with, but I could contribute simply on knowledge of how things should be done.
Still trying to figure that out after 15 years.
When I started to write and share code. I could argue that if you can even write code you are a developer.
I was a developer after my first exposure to code, over 31.5 years ago! Unlike most budding coders, I skipped "Hello World" and wrote "Guess the Random Number" as my first program. I even revised it twice: v1.1 added better hints for wrong guesses, and v2.0 added both a special screen for your 1st guess being right, and an Easter egg: Enter 0 as a guess, and the number is revealed. This doesn't increment your guess count either.
When I built my first game or website. It was many years later when I got paid. But I was “developing”.
When, at age 7, I wrote my first BASIC program on my ZX Spectrum 48K back in 1983
It's a path not a destination.
When I first started to learn programming, I thought "Once I've completed a lot of large-scale projects, then I'll be a developer!" That whole idea made my have anxiety once I completed a project. I would wonder, "Is this project big enough? Am I a 'developer' now? Do I have enough projects yet?" I've since changed that definition to just anyone who likes to program at all, which I think is a lot better. :)
That is how I started out also, thx Ryan.