by Timothy D Heard

Created on: March 15, 2008   Last Updated: May 13, 2008

Computer game development: becoming a programmer

To become a computer programmer, one needs either exceptional natural ability combined with experience, or exceptional learned ability combined with experience. There do exist top-notch gaming programmers who have had absolutely no formal training or education in this field; and there are average gaming programmers with extensive computer programming training, education and experience. Either method of acquiring these skills requires an exceptionable ability for finite math, detailed analysis of coded sequencing and memory code comprehension. This is not a field or career where one can be an 'average' professional. You can either do the job or you can't!

For those without formal training who rely on their natural abilities and skills, it is just a matter of time and experience before they become the best at what they do. For those who lack the natural skills needed, you are in for a long-term, in-depth training process. This is not a Sunday school class.

Computer programmers are those who create and write the codes which tell a computer how to perform. They create software packages and programs, by use of coding instructions, into 'machine-readable' form. In other words, they take an idea written on paper and turn it into a code that is translated and utilized by a computer. For the computers to understand these instructions, programmers use special computer languages to teach the computer how to respond to user commands.

If you are one of the many hopeful programmers who possess computer skills of no more than the average person, you can still become very successful in this field. But it will require the acquisition of many new skills and knowledge of computer technology.

Computer programming can be broken down into approximately thirteen sections of teaching; most of them involving math skills. The first of these are your basic reading skills requiring a slightly above-average ability. These involve the ability to recognize task-related words with technical meanings, follow sequential directions, the use of content tables, indexes, appendices, subheadings, etc. It is the ability to comprehensively organize written information and categorize it. One must also have an excellent command of language when speaking, writing, reading and comprehending information.

The above mentioned is only the beginning. Most of us already have these skills as acquired naturally. The remainder of computer programming is specifically

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