How to resolve a sports family IT dispute?

Question

Programming

Hello!
A little lyrics for a general understanding of the essence of the issue:
I am 28 years old, specialized in IT topics. For the last 1.5 years I have been working as
a software developer in a medium-sized company (3++ people) in the mobile applications market; the main direction is internal applications in php, servlets in Java with Tomcat, data handlers in Scala + Spark. I have been dreaming about creating my own game for a long time - there are already recorded different options with creepy (I can’t dare to call them that) dozdocs, but the thing is not moving anywhere - somehow it doesn’t work out to sit down and start doing at least something ( Although somehow time I spent a couple of hours creating the main menu -_- )
My girlfriend is 24 years old, higher philological. For the last 1.5 years he has been working in the technical support of mobile operators. I have no experience in programming, but there is Stroustrup's book, because I wanted to learn C ++. All 7 years spent together, I constantly tell her that she has a programming streak ( well, I can feel this strength in people - it’s hard for new juniors at work) ), she doesn’t believe in it - nor in the fact that she has it; not that someone will take her for training / internship ( due to sexism and jokes about philologists ); not that you can sit down and learn everything yourself with the help of the power of the Internet and similar resources (I'm not saying here that you can become a good Proper programmer only thanks to blogs, forums and a stack - no one denies the need for a correct profile basic theory ).
We reached a dead end and decided to arrange a sports contest-argument.
In my case, the winning goal is to create a full-fledged game that at least someone will download / and maybe buy. In her case, everything is more complicated. The main goal is to make sure that she can be and work as a programmer.
But given our mutual bias in these matters relative to each other, we decided to turn to the community for help. This is where the lyrics end and the questions begin.
What would be the best job for her? (options came to mind - passing some online test, or passing an interview / probationary period ) First of all, there is a choice of language. Need some help

bearded uncle-expert

. What is the best language to use? How much time to allocate to this would be sporty all things considered? ( I would be happy to chat with someone experienced in correspondence on this topic, if interested )
What is the best task for me? Considering that I already have little experience in solving problems programmatically, what functionality should I put into the game? What is better to choose - desktop or mobile? ( Although here it seems to me that the desktop alone will be a very long project for the task ). We need advice from a person who has already gone through the creation of his game ( while still working at his main job ), advice on difficulties and approximate time.
We will be glad to any advice / questions / just a conversation on this topic!
Thank you very much!
___upd: We
found out that site building is not suitable for her)
The "dispute" itself was started precisely for self-development and a shift from the dead center for both me and her. In it, no one is going to lose, but only win together)

Answer 1

One of my programming teachers always said:
The main thing in programming is the algorithm. According to a good algorithm, a student will write a program.
Work on a project together. Let her develop behavior scripts, and you will code on it. If she has a vein, then she will be able to think in cubes and rhombuses.
In the process of work, you will understand what tasks can be entrusted to her with a reference book.
As a result, you will succeed or not succeed in a working application.
For starters, it can compile a list of software on the phone that it lacks or does not like the functionality of. Then together you will choose what will be able to code.

Answer 2

Sorry, do you really need C++?
What phone does she have? iPhone? Android? Maybe she will write some application for herself
Or make a website for herself on the web (TO-DO list or Watch / Read list, which can be edited) and host it somewhere
In general, for her, the language is out of the project

Answer 3

https://school.hh.ru/ pass the selection

Answer 4

A girl programmer is a rarity. As a rule, they are either girls or programmers. All this is not because the girls are stupid, but for completely different reasons. The main thing is that thousands of years of evolution have separated female and male thinking, a woman "keeper of the hearth" thinks tactically (here and now), a man thinks strategically (what will happen later). Programming requires strategic thinking, and if your girlfriend was raised by a single dad, then she may be able to be a programmer, but in this case, you will lose the girl. Programming requires constant self-education, if your girlfriend is a child prodigy and she is able to understand the problem being solved and take care of you (and later on your children), if not, then you are unlucky in any case (but for me, let you have a favorite girl than another familiar programmer).
"First of all, there is a choice of language. "Are you sure you are a programmer? Any programmer knows that the choice of language is the last thing. Well, if you are developing mobile applications, then develop it.

Answer 5

Programming as a hobby is good.
And as a profession, a boring routine.
I have always taken places at programming competitions.
Now I have nothing to do with programming in general, although I work in IT.

Answer 6

It is logical for you to choose libgdx or a native android application. You should not start a game that is too voluminous, otherwise you will not live to see the release. From a month to three is enough for the first time.
About the girl, too much talk, but little action. I won’t reveal a secret if I say that you need to try different things, and no one has canceled the 10 thousand hour rule. After 10k hours, it will turn out whether there is a "vein" or not, or at least halfway. You can start with what you yourself know very well.
Perhaps you should entrust the training to professionals. You can also do algorithms and mathematics together, codeforces / codewars to help.

Answer 7

for starters: let him play with this one (no jokes): scratch4russia.com/store
(books and game environment, I haven’t looked at Odurino hardware extension myself yet)
meaning: figurine for children, zero entry threshold, everything is visual, and most importantly - - lack of a psychological barrier: it's just a toy for children , you can just play around, and at the same time feel the programming itself in its purest form (algorithms) , without getting tied into a bunch of difficulties with languages, development environments, platforms, deployment and other difficult for the beginner f-
Then, when you get tired of playing, and you want to look into the practical area - Python, and in no case C ++: network services, data processing / analysis, utilities, etc. For a thick GUI client, wxWidgets binding for python. To earn money - to supplement the DBMS (MySQL, a little later in parallel with Oracle).
PS: as for the toy - there was such a thing as a colobot, a multiplatform version (win, lin, + necessarily android) with network multiplayer would be interesting . If you need information on the implementation of game scripts, I am slowly translating a book on the implementation of dynamic languages ​​Shriram Krishnamurthy Programming Languages: Application and Interpretation , a ready-made interlinear in .pdf is available at https://github.com/ponyatov/PLAI/releases , links to the original are in git-repe