Thanks for tagging me Joey.
How old were you when you started programming?
I was 11 years old (6th grade) when I started using QBasic to make easy games. I actually knew about the easter egg that showed the developer names.
What was your first language?
Like Joey I used to write basic apps with QBasic and even mimicked a Windows Blue screen for fun. I also used to code my TI calculators for games when I was bored. Pascal was my first third generation language for school and then hopped to ANSI C and C++. Java and C# followed. Python and Ruby are my new study items.
What was the first real program you wrote?
Mentioned above . It was games written in QBasic. For friends and family.
If you knew then what you know now, would you have started programming?
Most definitely. This is one of those industries where you get to learn about other industries. You get this because you write software for them. :)
If there is one thing you learned along the way that you would tell new developers, what would it be?
The easiest answer is to go read "Pragmatic Programmer" by Hunt and Thomas, then go pair program with someone with Agile (Scrum/XP) experience. I'm not trying to start an Agile flame war, but in my personal experience it works.
What's the most fun you've ever had ... programming?
The current team I'm on successfully wrote an internal web app for our mortgage company, with 6000+ unit tests, pair programming, continuous integration, and other little goodies. The best part: project finished ahead of schedule, under budget, with zero defects, and a VERY happy end user. That is fun. Lasted almost a year.
The poor saps that I'm tagging?