Cameron Cohen is only 11 years old, but he is already fluent in several languages: Java, C++ and Open GO.
These are typically the tongues of experienced computer programmers, not sixth-graders. But as the creator of a recently launched iPhone application and the founder of the company CCC Development, Cameron is already well-versed in the nouns and verbs that build software.
He also knows a thing or two about building strong ties with the community. He is a former patient of the Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital, and he will donate a substantial portion of the sales revenue from his iSketch app to Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA.
Laila Ramji, a senior child life specialist who worked with Cameron, said he is the youngest individual donor to the Child Life/Child Development program she has seen in her career.
The money will probably go toward movies or games geared toward pre-teens and teens, Cameron said. He has also talked about donating DVD players, laptops and recently released CDs, Ramji said.
“I want everyone, even if they are in the hospital, to have things that make them happy,” Cameron said.
Last March, he began to experience pain in his left leg. When it suddenly grew much worse, his mother took him to an orthopedic surgeon, who found a tumor the size of a small lemon, most likely benign. The tumor was a type that appears mostly in young adults, said his father Jeff Cohen, who is an alumnus of the UCLA School of Law.
“I was shocked and upset and sad, but I trusted my doctors and knew I was going to be OK,” Cameron said.
A biopsy confirmed that the tumor was harmless, and soon after Cameron underwent surgery at Mattel Children’s Hospital. He missed two months of school, wore a full-leg brace for six months and could not partake in physical activities for nine months.
Unable to shoot hoops or throw spirals, he began to teach himself the rules of a new kind of game: writing a winning computer program.
“This is what I did in my free time,” said Cameron, who enjoys playing tennis, basketball and football. “When my friends would go out and play on sports teams and I couldn’t, I would just go home and work on my computer. It’s so much fun and always interesting.”
Cameron had previously learned the basics of programming at summer camps such as Cybercamps Academy and preparatory school Harvard-Westlake’s program. Intrigued by technology, he also discovered how to hack the computer game Armagetron so that he had infinite lives.
“I was always just interested in learning how to do everything on the computer,” he said.
But it was not until last April, when he started researching the steps of making iPhone apps, that this hobby turned into a passion, his father said.
Through iTunes U, he watched a series of college lectures called “iPhone Application Development” by a Stanford professor. He also viewed online tutorials on YouTube and Vimeo and scoured the Web for blogs such as iPhone Dev SDK, a community for iPhone developers. Finally, he downloaded Apple’s Software Development Kit and familiarized himself with writing for the iPhone platform.
At the time, he had several drawing apps on his iPod Touch, but he thought they had too few features. Other apps that he wanted were too expensive, priced at $3 to $5. So he set about creating a drawing program that cost only 99 cents and was laden with choices for paintbrushes and colors.
“It’s like finger painting, you touch your finger to the screen and draw,” Cameron said.
Unlike other drawing programs, which have long processes for e-mailing drawings, his allows users to send their masterpieces by simply pressing two buttons.
He spent two and a half months writing the app with Apple’s software and creating some of its components with other programs. For example, he made all the graphics, including the icon and start-up screen, in Photoshop.
“He is very creative. I had nothing to do with the program or programming,” Jeff Cohen said. “I created the paperwork for the (company) and looked over the paperwork with Apple, but he created the design and all that sort of stuff. He really did it on his own.”
The app, which has been available on the iTunes store since December, has an average rating of four stars and has been mentioned on many technology Web sites such as CrunchGear.com.
“I’m hoping to get even more sales, so I can donate even more,” Cameron said.
Cameron’s application can be purchased via the iTunes store. It is compatible with the iPhone and iPod Touch and requires OS 3.0 or later.