** My Story By George Sofianos**

My First touch with "Commands" was when I wanted to be a hacker (about 13-14 years old). I read somewhere that one of the things I need to know to become a hacker was HTML.
So I learned HTML.After months I created many free sites with forum system that didn't need any extreme skills. When I uploaded for the first time phpbb system to a free server and I started to install "MODS" I have my first touch with php. While I was playing with the phpbb code or... trying to play, I read some  things about PHP and I tried to learn javascript with no success.
 Generally when I was taking the decision to learn something I had an enthusiasm just for a while.



Three years passed since I had the idea to start Application Programming.Between this
time I was just learning different things about computers.I can say that there is
no year since my first touch with computers that I haven't learn something.
Well, at the age of 16 I wanted to learn how to program a game. I searched the google
to gather some info about it and after some research about what language is the best
for Game Development I found a site about C++. I was programming in c++ but with many spaces between the learning periods.
While I was in my first steps in c++ I tried more things that gave me experience. One of
these was Rom Hacking/Translating. From Rom Hacking I learned for the first time
what HEX was.

Furthermore I was on A Technical Vocational School about Computer Science for 3 years(Something like High School but with more Computer Science Lesssons).
I Learned many things there that I couldn't understand how these thinks would help me
with programming.I found out that every little thing that you learn about computers counts
after some years. Some of the lessons that i had on my school were

• "Visual Programming"(Visual Basic)
• "Structured Programming"(Pascal)
• "Operating Systems"
• "Web Development Tools"(HTML)
• "Networks"
• "Computer Maintance"
• "Databases"

Four months before I enter my 18nth year of my life I took the decision to take programming
more seriously. This is the time that my hole life changed.Programming made my top priority with the idea of a career as a Games Programmer. I Started Reading C++ Again and again and again. I had so many unknown words (Tutorials were in English Language, not that if there were in Greek I would understand XD) and there were so many difficult things i had to understand like pointers  and arrays++. But I didn't give up.I wanted to become a Games Programmer.After spending 2 Months practising programming I found the "Allegro Library". An Easy way to the Graphics World.This is when I started to understand what libraries were(c++ Libraries) and i took a general idea about graphics. I created some small Games-Tests With Allegro but not for long.

"SDL" was the next library I found about Graphics and it was a very nice choice to start.
I did a little practice in SDL and then I created my first big project "Falling Blocks" a Tetris
Clone.It is a nice game with very bad Programming but unfinished. Unfortunately I lost the source code.Then I created other small games just for training like "Treleza" , "Crazy Snake", "Another Pong" and more that I never released.In the meantime i tried some other libraries like QT, Win32 API, Sockets(Network Programming),FMOD(Sound Library).
I can say that Network Programmming is very attractive. I want to create a Game with Online Mode in the future.
...
Until now i have been reading many books about Better And Clear Code, C++ Language, OpenGL,Java, Assembly and more.I haven't moved from SDL Rendering To OpenGL yet but it's time to.

This is my story until Now 30nth of January 2011. Until the next time I'll update this
article I'm sure that there are going to be many lines about what I've done ;)