15
covered the complex topic of object-oriented programming. This sort
of coding manipulates units of data, or objects, and organizes them
to perform various tasks. Examples of objects include scroll bars on a
computer desktop and shopping cart buttons on a commercial website.
Although
C++ for Dummies
was written for experienced computer pro-
grammers, Zuckerberg devoured the content while still in middle school.
Fun with the Family
Like many other tech lovers, Zuckerberg was a huge fan of the futuristic
Star Wars
films. When he was eleven, Zuckerberg enlisted his sisters to
film a parody of the movies called
The Star Wars Sill-ogy
.
Although the
movie was supposed to be funny, the Zuckerberg kids took their jobs very
seriously. They held production meetings every morning, built sets, and
created costumes. Mark played Luke Skywalker, the central protagonist
in the film. Since his voice had not yet changed with the onset of puberty,
Mark spoke in a high, squeaky voice. Two-year-old Arielle played the ro-
bot R2-D2, wearing a garbage can over her head. Zuckerberg’s love of
Encourage Their Passions
In a 2012 profile in
New York
magazine, Edward Zuckerberg was asked how a
mild-mannered dentist had managed to raise the billionaire founder of Face-
book. Edward answered:
Look, you have successful kids, and people are going to want to emulate
your formula. But we don’t profess any special child-rearing skills. The
best I can say is that as parents, you can engineer the life you want your
kids to have, but it may not be the life they want to have. You have to
encourage them to pursue their passions. And you have to spend more
time on them than you spend on anything else.
Quoted in Matthew Shaer, “The Zuckerbergs of Dobbs Ferry,”
New York
, May 6, 2012.
.
