"App prodigy" can complete mobile app development in 12 hours

Making mobile games or software is not an easy task for the average programmer, let alone completing the development of an app in 12 hours, but there is a programming prodigy in Indonesia.

FahmaWaluyaRosmansyah is a 12-year-old Symbian app developer who works on mobile apps in his free time. Fahma has developed apps aimed at students around his age to help them learn English and basic math.

Fahma was born in Indonesia in 1998, and like other children born after 1995, he grew up surrounded by computer games, consoles, and mobile phones. In grade 5, Fahma began to learn how to develop using AdobeFlash, and in the same year, he created his first application called BAHANA. BAHANA teaches children pinyin, numbers and colours, all on the Nokia E71.

By the time Fahma was in sixth grade, he had developed five mobile phone apps, one of which was available for download on Nokia's Ovi store. One of them, ENRICH, allows children to translate Indonesian words into English, complete with attractive graphics and clear pronunciation. MANTAP, another app that lets kids learn math, will also be available for download on the Ovi store in the coming weeks.

Fahma says it can build a mobile app from scratch in 12 hours with his sister Hania, who can provide him with sound content and is also his inspiration and test engineer.

The young developer, who was recently awarded the ICTAward2010 (Information and Communications Technology Award) in Indonesia, also says he will continue to develop educational software for children. It's hard to believe, but only a developer like Fahma understands the needs of his peers better than an adult.