I think these days, web programming is the "sexy" thing for a lot of people to be into, but my skills are a bit more traditional / old-school than that (I can do basic HTML, JavaScript, PHP, etc but it's not my specialty).
I got my start with MS-DOS QBASIC in the early 90s. Then progressed to learning C and C++, which remains my favorite language and the one I have the most experience with. In the last several years I also started getting into Java and Scala for work projects. I taught myself through actual physical books (gasp), mostly checked out from the computer section of public libraries (have any of you young uns even heard of libraries?).
In my college days I was obsessed with computer graphics, and spent countless hours tinkering with low-level graphics algorithms for drawing splines, metaballs, 3D math, texture mapping, etc. I tried writing my own game engine once with DirectX and Visual C++ but never completed it. Maybe one of these days I'll have to dust off some of those old projects and share them on here with you guys.
Also happy to discuss programming with anyone who wants to, and offer advice to those just starting out with it. It's a fascinating and rewarding field of study!
check out my reply to Klye below this and see if you have any input for me thanks in advance