Hey There!
My name is Ethan, i'm a 17 year old self taught programmer from Canada with an extreme interest in technology and how things work.
About me
Like I mentioned before, I am a 17 year old student from the chilly maritimes of eastern Canada. Ever since the age of 13 I have been teaching myself all about computers, how they work and how to make them work. My recent interests in blockchain technology is what led me to your wonderful site. Not only am I a code and hardware junkie, I also enjoy indulging in the normal things any teenager would. Growing up in the maritimes in a family full of scuba divers means that I am no stranger to the ocean, I love spending my summers in the Bay of Fundy waters with my family.
Programming
I was 13 when I wrote my first line of code, and off course it wasn't anything crazy. It was a game on the popular website Scratch where the only objective was to run away from a ghost sprite. You can actually still play it here, it was my embarrassing introduction into the world of computer programming.
I fell in love with it. The idea that I could make a computer do whatever I wanted absolutely fascinated me, so I kept learning. With the help of Code Academy I taught myself basic HTML and CSS, then eventually JavaScript. Web design was cool but I was never that much of a "designer" type of guy, I was more interested in the inner working of software. So I started teaching myself Java, which in my opinion is an excellent first language for any beginner. Learning Java taught me the quintessential programming concepts and techniques that would help me further learn. I programmed souly in Java for about a year, making fun little programs that would amaze my friends and family. I felt like a wizard.
As great as Java is, I desired to learn more. A friend of mine (not currently on this site) directed me in the direction of an up and coming language, Go. Go (or as many call it Golang) is a fast, concurrent and relatively new programming language developed by the brilliant minds over at Google, what interested me was the possibilities this language held. This is when I first started developing website logic and back-ends.
Fast forward to today, I am still writing Go code as part of my daily routine. I still use my Java knowledge along with some C# for projects where it is required but I try my best to work and create in Go. Learning how to program taught me so many problem solving skills that have helped me progress through life and I have even landed a few freelance jobs as well as part time jobs in my city (This is good for a seventeen year old I guess). I plan to contribute my developer knowledge to this site and help anyone who wishes to learn the powers of code.
GoChat was a personal project of mine
Queue part 2 of longest introduce yourself on steemit
Hobbies
As much as I love sitting in front of my computer and hammering out some ideas on my keyboard, I also partake in hobbies that interest and excite me.
Being the tech fanatic that I am, I love messing around with electronics and micro controllers , who doesn't. Making fun little robots and gadgets never fails to amuse me or my community. Just recently I have taken an interest in the weather, developing my own weather monitoring system for around my house using the wonderful Raspberry PI.
Don't worry, I assure you I do actually exit my home sometimes. My father is a marine biologist, so I basically grew up on the water. For many years I actually raced a sail boat, it was probably one of the funnest experiences of my entire life. The ocean has always fascinated me, and I would love to one day incorporate programming and my love for the ocean into a profession.
As much as I love spending time on the water, I also love spending time in the air. Living near a local ski hill encouraged me to pick up snowboarding from a young age and ever since then I have been loving the sport. Nothing is more exhilarating than bombing down a hill covered in fresh powder!
I would love to discuss some of my snowboarding or sailing experiences.
Blockchain
I mentioned before that I has recently became interested in Blockchain technology and how it all works. I have been doing a lot of research and plan on creating a Dapp (Decentralized application) using Ethereum as sort of a introduction into developing with blockchain. I believe it is the future of the Web and I really want to wrap my head around it. I will most likely be documenting my progress and trails with blockchain/crypto technology so stay tuned!
In Conclusion - TL;DR
I am a nerd who loves to learn, that's all you need to know. I want to take being a member of the Steemit community as an opportunity to share my learning experiences, help some others learn as well as learn some things myself. Thank you for taking the time to read this unnecessarily long introduction, feel free to follow me on Twitter or check out my Github (Please note my github is only personal projects or experiments, nothing too serious).
I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year