We are a group of people who write computer software for the simple reason that we love doing it. If that's all you need to read to know that this is the group for you, you can jump to our FrontPage or visit our IrcChannel now. Otherwise, you can continue here reading a little more about us.
Many of us also develop software as part of formal employment or education. However, we also work on software projects outside of these settings, for our own enjoyment and because we want to produce useful or entertaining software. People who only code in their roles as students tend to have no great love for programming, and often their sole involvement in online communities is asking and answering questions related to homework assignments. Those who only develop software for business applications tend to think about the process in a way based on many other factors besides technical merit of programming languages and tools. We feel the need to create an inclusive community for people who program free of the constraints of school and work, where discussion and services can be guided by factors important to us and not diluted by the needs of people in different situations.
There are already online communities with closely related themes such as game programming. However, we think it's a shame if two groups of people who enjoy coding stay separated just because one group likes creating games and the other creating compilers! This is why we've created the Fellowship of Hobbyist Programmers. Above all, we are a community, not "a web site" or "an IRC channel."
We certainly hope you visit us in our IrcChannel and decide to become a regular there, but that is just one possible medium of communication.
Maintaining this web site is not an end goal by itself. It exists mostly as a dynamically evolving cache of our answers to the most frequently asked questions we get.
We believe that bringing together hobbyist programmers of all ability levels, interests, and backgrounds is a very worthwhile goal. If you're like us, the idea of such a group has struck you immediately as something you'd love to see exist and thrive. In keeping with the spirit of our subject, we have no authority structure. Everyone can be involved equally in setting the directions we take, so if your heart is with our subject, please join us and get involved setting up a great community! There are all kinds of possible opportunities, from working together to produce software to providing educational resources aimed at people who want to learn programming on their own. Again, if you like the sound of this, please stop by our IrcChannel!