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TO A VAST majority of adults, writing code seems complicated, too complicated in fact. But there’s a growing number of children who are picking it up in the same way previous generations learned how to hula a hula-hoop or master the game of kerbs.
In the small village of Killenard in Laois, a young boy has become Europe’s youngest Android app developer at just 11-years-old.
And Caolan Fleming is self-taught. His father Seán openly admits that his knowledge of computers “isn’t that great” and that his son’s interest in programming came about by chance two years ago.
Caolan himself tells TheJournal.ie, “I was nine when I started on a thing called Python. I drew my own pictures using Paint.” He add that he means “Paint on the computer, not actual Paint”, just in case he’s talking to a 105-year-old.
“When I first started, I got this book and I read that to teach myself. YouTube helped me as well,” he added. Since then, he has moved onto Adobe CS6 and Newgrounds.
The Sixth Class pupil has already completed three apps, which are available for download on Google Play and have been viewed about 3,000 times.
The first one is called 4Path and it asks players to bring ‘a smiley’ to its yellow food by swiping the screen. Caolan claims it is “not that good but it’s the first one I ever made”.
His second, Whack Niall, is a basic ‘whack-a-mole’ game where the target is One Direction’s Niall Horan. To win, users must hit the young crooner 10 times before the timer runs down.
Happy Jump is his third app and it is his best offering, according to the young developer. “It is addictive,” he tells us.
Determined to be the next-big-thing in Android circles, Caolan is already started work on his next game. It will be called Balldodger and will involve controlling the player by tilting the device.
All of this work isn’t achieved by spending all of his time locked away on a computer though. The eldest of four boys in the Fleming household, the student spends just one hour a night on the Internet.
Dad Seán says his boy “hasn’t quite made up his mind yet” about what he wants to do in the future but he’s sure computers will feature in there somewhere. For the moment, he’s content with being one of the youngest app developers in the world and keeping up-to-date on what his peers, such as Waterford’s Jordon Casey, are up to.
He has also upped his ‘online cred’ by being kicked out of a site for being underage. Have we just met the new Linus Torvalds? The next Mark Zuckerberg?
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This kid should be sent around all primary schools as an ambassador to encourage other children to take up programming
Yep..teach more Tech related subjects and drop the painfully useless, difficult and obsolete Irish language as a mainstream subject but keep it as an optional language if your brain is language savy..Tech is the future and will add value to the economy in terms of inward investment..
Well done Caolan…super lad.
your ‘two cents’ are worth about that much
Good man Caolan! Anyone else who’s kids show an interest should bring them along to their local Coder Dojo saturday morning club. Learning to code at a very young age is like learning another language which the child can more easily become fluent in.
Standing up and giving that kid vigorous round of applause !!! What a little star :)
fair play, but has he ever cleared the first Mario game on the Nes, won bronze in the long puck at the community games or got the shift?
Hats off to the lad. As a software developer myself its great to see something like this happening, to see no fear of technology, to embrace it and make good use of it.
My nephews are getting a battering later!
Joke obviously!
A shining light in all the gloom…nice story…well done young man!
Well done that kid
Congratulations Caolan,what a great story,that young man will be a great success, the education system should take note and realize this is the future and start teaching programming in schools, the younger they start the better. Instead of using resources and time on pointless subjects like religion or dare i say it Irish.
cyber kid! fair play to the young un :)
3 apps done. He a whizz at it. He should be teaching other kids to do this. He a smart kid for his age.
I’m a software student and I feel wholly inadequate myself reading this :(
This is where the education system should be spending its money and not on “teaching” Irish. Knowing the Irish education system what’s the bet Caolan won’t get enough points in his leaving to go to college to study computer science. And what’s the bet that would be because his Irish result was not good enough.
10000/1?
Thanks :D I feel the same way! I hate Irish. When are we ever going to use Irish in our real lives??
Shame he might not be here in the future of Ireland ‘recovery’……exports ready
Laois Laois Laois!
fair play to lad, next Kevin Flynn
Well done Caolan, you’ve done the family proud…!!!!
Well done Caolan, very impressive. Up Killenard!. Any chance you could do a variant of “Whack Niall” like whacking certain Irish soccer players after 6-1 loss to Germany?
what a huge inspiration from a pint sized lad,the government should take note of this trailblazer,this is where investment should be pumped into,in the smart economy a little island like ours could be real world heavyweights if we get the education and infrastructure right now,take a bow young man your the future and will bring us back from bankruptcy,keep on blazing that trail!!your a credit to your family and your community.
Fantastic work Caolan! Keep it up. And teach all your friends!! Great to hear this on Facebook and The Journal… Would be even nicer to hear it through the school though. You should be applauded.
I may sound like I’m bragging but I help Caolan with designs now. Sooooo I’m helping and I’m not useless yay
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