Teen Programmers Unite

TPU

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About TPU

Teen Programmers Unite was formed in the summer of 1996 by and for teenaged computer programmers worldwide. The organization's goal is to help people who fit into this growing category socialize, exchange ideas, perhaps work together on something, and learn.

A TPU History page is maintained on the HProg Wiki.

Why TPU doesn't have message boards

TPU is dedicated to social interaction and the advancement of coding among teenagers - though TPU has had various forms of message boards for many years, recent trends suggested that it was time for a change. Message boards have very little value in achieving any of our main goals, and can even be detrimental to users by providing an excuse for not programming. The mailing list and IRC channel should provide all the functionality of message boards and more, satisfying the need for both instantaneous communication (IRC) and asynchronous communication (the mailing list).

User Services

The Mailing List

The mailing list is designed to be reserved for more on-topic discussion. Whilst there is plenty of room for interpretation as to what consitutes "on-topic", as a courtesy to other users, restricting entirely irrelevant communication to IRC would be appreciated. You can sign up for the mailing list by using the "Mailing List" link to the left.

The mailing list usage policy is fairly loose - it is meant to be a place for discussion. That said, there are a few rules/guidelines which you should follow:

Grammar and spelling should be at a point where your messages are readable - repeatedly sending completely unintelligible messages to the list will result in you being warned.
Anything spam-like (e.g. commercial, unsolicited email) will probably result in you being banned from the list. If you aren't sure if something is acceptable, check with an admin first.
Before asking a question on the list, ask yourself, "could I find this answer myself?". People are willing to help you, but only if you help yourself - try using a search engine to answer your question before you ask a question - you will save everybody (especially you) a lot of time.

IRC Channel

The IRC channel is a fun hangout for TPUers. It allows you to communicate in real time with people from all around the world. IRC is very informal, but please try to make sure that people can at least understand what you are trying to say. The general rule of thumb with IRC is that you should treat people exactly the same as if they were in front of you - be polite and you will get a lot further.

Planet TPU

Planet TPU is a blog-feed aggregator. You can read the blogs of any TPUers who have added themselves to it, all at once. If you would like your blog to be added, contact an admin.

TPU Interest Groups

Interests Groups are programming-related groups which center around a particular aspect of programming. If you would like to form an interest group, post to the mailing list (or ask on IRC) about interested people, and then contact an admin.