In a world where even adults struggle with coding, a little prodigy has broken all records to become the youngest programmer in the world. Imagine a seven-year-old sitting at a computer and tinkering with Java and C++. Little Shahzad is doing just that.
A British boy of Pakistani origin has become the world's youngest computer programmer at the age of seven, a media report claims. Muhammad Hamza Shahzad, from Handsworth in Birmingham, was trained by his father Asim Shahzad, who works for an American IT company.
“I want to be Bill Gates,” he told the Birmingham Mail.
This is not the first time Hamza has broken a world record. Last year at the age of six, he became the world's youngest Microsoft Office Professional (MOP) by passing three Microsoft Office final exams including MS Word 2013, MS PowerPoint 2013 and MS Excel 2013, the News reports.
In a competition where candidates need 700 points to get the desired certification, Hamza has scored 757, a Microsoft spokesperson said. As a result, his recent claims qualify him to become a specialist programmer to pass MS’s “Fundamentals of Software Development 98-361” exam.
“He had no trouble creating a Web App and managed to develop his own shopping card app,” he said. “He has dabbled with Windows desktop Apps, console Apps, Windows Services, Web services and really enjoys creating simple game apps. He can explain stacking, memory management, data structures, perhaps better than many experienced developers,” the spokesperson added.
Humza's parents, Asim Shahzad and Seemab Asim, told the News that their son's computer skills were innate and they never pressured him to learn. Humza's parents said they are proud that their son has set a world record. They said they have worked with him to develop his interest, but he takes his own initiative and constantly has new ideas.
Humza, who was born in Lahore in 2009, moved to London in 2011 with his parents after his father took a job at an IT.
Speaking about Humza, a Microsoft employee said: "He is such an experienced programmer at the age of 7 that he can easily create all kinds of IT applications."
Speaking about his latest achievement, Humza said: “I feel excited and am having fun with my new skills. I want to be the new Bill Gates one day. I like watching science fiction movies at home, playing games on the iPad and laptop, and playing football with dad.” Currently, the little programmer is now working on his own computer game. “I want to make a game and that’s what I’m doing right now – 30 clicks and you win,” he said.
