Who am I?
I have been programming for eight years now, since I started learning Python in Maths lessons every two weeks. While the rest of my class hated it, something about it stuck with me, and from the first program I ran, I was hooked.
After those lessons stopped, I continued learning Python on my own, and thats how it stayed for two years. My school at time didn't have any provision for Computer Science or Programming. Eventually however, they started offering Computer Science as a GCSE subject, and of course I took it.
My GCSE Computer Science teacher really helped me grow and develop my skills, he pushed me to improve in every aspect of my education, and those are lessons that I kept with me over the years. Once he discovered my programming, he suggested to me that I learn Java, and even gave me a book that he used to learn Java.
It was around this time that the Covid pandemic hit. Over the lockdowns I was able to develop my programming even more, every free minute I had between live lessons was spent typing away into an IDE, or testing code I had written before that lesson. All this work culminated in my GCSE coursework project, which is actually available as an archive on my GitHub. Of course, this project does not compare to some of the projects I have produced since then.
Over A-Levels I continued this kind of work ethic. Almost every free minute I had was spent programming and developing my skills. I started to compete in competitions and getting good results, I started releasing some of my work publically. To finish off those two years, I created my biggest completed project to date, MessageCat, for my A-Level coursework. There are of course many flaws in it, but I have been working on improving, and I am always learning new things from each project I take on.
For me programming is more than just a means to solve a problem, it is a part of who I am. There is something about it that just, works in my head, it's like I was made for programming, and I plan to use that passion throughout my career.
Nathan Baines - Programming with Passion
Languages and Frameworks
This is a list of some of the programming languages and frameworks I am familiar with.
I've had experience in using all of these frameworks (and a few more not listed here) in my own personal projects, and feel secure in my understanding of them.
Education
GCSEs
The Malling School 2016 - 2021
9 GCSEs at grade 8 or higher, including English, Maths, Computer Science, and Psychology.
A Levels
Mascalls Academy 2021 - 2023
- Computer Science (OCR) - A
- Mathematics (Edexcel) - A
- Physics (Edexcel) - B
Higher education
University of Sussex 2023 - ongoing
Currently studying for a Bsc in Computer Science, some of the modules I have studied so far as part of this course are:
- Further Programming
- Mathematical Concepts
- Programming Concepts
- Data Structures and Algorithms
- Introduction to Multimedia
Awards and Competitions
HackSussex GameJam 2024
November 2024 - Winner
Once again, I teamed up with a group of my friends at University to create a game in 24 hours.
We ended up creating HackCat, a game which the judges decided was the overall winner of the competition for general completeness, and functionality.
I contributed mainly to implemented the graph based level menu, and had a hand in implementing some of the fight mechanics. I was also given the task of resolving issues with Git, which we were using for source control.
HackSussex GameJam 2023
November 2023 - Category winner
For this competition I teamed up with a group of friends at my University, to create a game in 24 hours.
The game we created, In The Chair, ended up being the category winner for best procedural generation.
I mostly contributed to implemented the networking and multiplayer features, and general support to others in the team who were not as familiar with Unity.