Famous Programmers Who Were Self Taught

Programming like any other disciple often requires guidance. A person that want to learn how to code will quite often go to a formal school or find a mentor that guides them how to go about learning the trade. However, there are people who have been able to successfully teach themselves how to code all on their own. Amongst them are many that have become so successful that they have cemented themselves amongst the most influential people to ever exist. In no particular order, here are some of the famous programmers who taught themselves how to code.

Bill Gates
Steve Wozniak
Margaret Hamilton
Elon Musk
Mark Zuckerberg

Bill Gates

Before becoming the richest man in the world, Gates was instrumental in the development of modern computers as they are today. He together with Paul Allen were the brains behind the programming of Altair Basic, which was key to the creation of the Altair computer when they were in college. Bill Gates began is self-taught journey into programing just before high school when he was in middle school. He would sit and code away as other kids enjoyed their lunch.

Steve Wozniak

Steve Wozniak together with Steve Jobs co-founder Apple. As Job was the face and the marketing expert for the product, Steve was the genius behind the development of the first Apple computer. Prior to his success with Apple, Steve had always been an individual with high potentials for success. When he was ten, Steve was interested in science and math, which led him to have his own ham radio license. By the time he was in high school Steve Wozniak delved learned the Fortran programming language all by himself.

Margaret Hamilton

Margaret Hamilton is a legend when it come to the moon landing. He was the brains behind the successful Apollo mission that got the first human on the moon. Although Margaret studied math in college, she taught herself how to code and was able to develop the software that allow the Apollo pilot to safely land on the moon. Margaret’s success and legacy earned her the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Elon Musk

Elon has become quite the sensation as has been able to develop some of the most important technological tool in modern times. Elon Musk was the brains behind the success of PayPal. Now, the controls Tesla, which is the biggest car manufacturing company with a value of almost $500 billion. Like many other famous programmers, Mr. Musk taught himself how to code when he was still a child at the age of twelve. Elon is also involved with Space X, which is the leading private company that deals with space technology development.

Mark Zuckerberg

Mr. Zuckerberg is another incredible individual that has completely changed how the world works. Mark’s coding journey began in middle school. He also taught himself how to code when he was in middle school. When he was in college, Zuckerberg and the Winklevoss brothers conceived ConnectU, which later become Facebook.

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