I have been a programmer since 1978, going the "long way" (all the way from Fortran/Cobol). Learning new languages as they come, creating some of my own. But the main interest has always been games programming. In the later part of 2010 I thought, why not do a MMORPG, to make some use of the experience I have? Boy, I was in for a very rough ride! It turned out that MMOPRGs need competence in just about every computer science:

C++11, Google Go (a new language for the server programming), NoSQL, client/server, web design (+session management, dynamic page generation, css), web server (did it myself), TCP/IP, real time systems, multi threading, Linux server management, MinGW, OpenGL (+lighting theories), Blender+animations, Gimp, a load of design patterns I didn't know existed (after first doing it the wrong way), UI design (using themes), safe login using encryption, git, subversion, apt-get, dpkg, Boost, Doxygen, GitHub, etc.

I knew some of this already, but maybe half of the complete effort was OpenGL, of which I knew nothing when I started.

Will I make money from this game? Probably not.

Was it worth the effort? Absolutely, I haven't had this much fun in many years. It is fun to learn.

From 2000 to 2007, I used C and C++. By teaching myself and some additional help from evening classes and Computeach. Some 2D games and even some 3D demos.

2007 to 2012, got a Uni Degree with some additional qualifications. In that time I switched to Java and focused on software development. Bit of Visual Basic, which I enjoyed and the experience made me nearly switch to that langauge. Felt like writing a game in it as it seemed to be good at rapid prototyping, but decided that I should apply the module's principles to Java instead, which had the lion share of my education and propably has better prospects for job hunting. It would be nice to know other peoples thoughts about VB in regards to gaming, although I would expect them to be lukewarm...

After thirteen years, I do feel a bit gutted I still haven't got a job in programming, but the personal jouney, so far, has been worth it. At the very least I can now program with confidence and have several qualifications to my name. I'm looking towards a programming job in Cambridge, England, but we'll see how that goes...

My advice to those starting out; don't be in such a rush to learn everything in one go. Take one thing at a time, and if you feel you lack knowledge which is preventing you from progressing - don't delay, learn it today! ^_^ or just give it a shot. Whatever.

After thirteen years, I do feel a bit gutted I still haven't got a job in programming, but the personal jouney, so far, has been worth it. At the very least I can now program with confidence and have several qualifications to my name. I'm looking towards a programming job in Cambridge, England

If you are a Java programmer who is into games in Cambridge then Jagex is the first company that springs to mind. Alternatively move to london and work in a bank.

Aye, they are on my list. Tried for a position there years ago as a junior 3D modeller. decent people as they at least gave me a test to perform(create five 3D models) as I didn't have a demo reel at the time. Obviously didn't get it, but it was still nice of them.

Still, once I finish my current project - a java game - I'm going to give them another try as a junior programmer. I've always felt that qualifications alone, even relevant ones, aren't enough when determining one's actual skill level...not sure what others think...but...oh well. ^_^