My introduction to coding emerged naturally from my growing involvement in the hacking community. As I connected with fellow enthusiasts, I discovered that most of them possessed coding skills, using them to create impressive digital tools—AIM cloners, HOST account takeovers for AOL chatroom moderation, account suspension tools, and methods for acquiring coveted 3-character screen names.
Building with Visual Basic
Within just a few months, I had immersed myself in Visual Basics and successfully developed my own AIM client. Instead of relying on the standard AIM interface, I utilized tocsoc.ocx—a specialized module that enabled direct interaction with AIM servers. This component became the foundation for the various AIM tools and cloners that my peers and I were building, functioning much like the modules or gems imported in modern Python or Ruby applications.
Coding transformed my understanding of what was possible in the digital realm. I realized I could build functional tools that served real purposes and solved actual problems.
Exploring Web Development
When AIM's servers began shutting down and tocsoc.ocx became obsolete, I pivoted to web development, exploring HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. My learning method was refreshingly hands-on—I practiced extensively using Adobe Dreamweaver, which allowed me to write code and immediately visualize the results. While I didn't pursue web development extensively beyond creating basic sites, I found the process fascinating and valued having this skill in my technical toolkit.