I got into programming through making small games. It was very much a means to an end, a solution oriented path. I personally can't imagine trying to learn programming now in a similar manner to high school math courses, where problems are presented so abstractly. If I can't see a reachable and tangible end product in sight, it tanks my motivation to learn.
Yeah, same here. I like to know what I'm actually working towards.
Also that said thing is actually interesting to me. That's a problem with a lot of teaching, the example problems they give are so utterly boring that it saps your motivation to work on them. Like the reminder/notes/shopping list apps that seem to be the default course/tutorial subject for every language and framework now.
