I am Nandan Goyal from Bangalore, India. I have many hobbies and interests. I've made this website to keep a record of all of them.
I love programming and have been doing it since I was in 6th grade. I am also an intermediate pianist and music producer. I am very enthusiastic about math and physics (with an especially keen interest in astronomy and theoretical physics). A more casual thing I sometimes do is play video games. Actually that was how I got interested in programming - because I wanted to develop video games myself.
I consider myself an ambivert. I can enjoy myself both around people and in solitude. Also, I am a night owl, often finding myself working (or enjoying a hobby) late into the night and waking up late in the morning. I am unapologetic about it though. It's just how I function.
I am very curious. Curiosity is my driving force. I grab any opportunity I get to learn about new things that pique my interest.
Programming and AI Knowledge
My programming journey started with creating games using MIT's Scratch application. Later, I started learning Java Programming from my father Ram Dayal Goyal when I was in 6th grade. My father is an AI expert. Visit his website here. He taught me how things work in a super-simple way, which developed my interest towards technology since an early age. I have developed a very good understanding of many advanced topics like data structures, algorithms, multithreading, client-server applications, etc.
Later, I started learning about Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning from my father. I got a very good understanding of AI concepts like clustering, classification, neural networks, image processing, computer vision along with detailed mathematical analysis.
Since Java, I've also learnt Python, a little bit of webdev, and my favourite programming language as of now, C++.
My Rubik's Cube Website
I love solving twisty puzzles and have a good collection of them including, of course, the classic Rubik's Cube. I have developed a website dedicated to the Rubik's Cube named "Rubik's Point". It is a site that teaches how to solve the Rubik's Cube and a variety of other puzzles. Some work is still pending there, which I will finish some time.
I am very much into speedcubing and am practicing to be able to solve the Rubik's Cube faster and faster. As of now, I average 20-25 seconds.
Commercial Project
Some time ago, a friend of my dad had opened up a restaurant in Kolkata, India. He needed a website for the restaurant, so he asked my dad for guidance. When I got to know about this, I volunteered to carry out the project. You can visit the website here. My school honoured me for this achievement and wrote a page about me on their website. I am grateful to my school and my teachers for this encouragement.
Graphics programming
Having been fascinated by video games since childhood, I have always been interested in learning how video games work behind the scenes. This curiosity led me to learn about game engines and game frameworks back during COVID-19 when I was in 9th grade. But I wanted to learn how these things worked at a lower level. In 11th grade, I decided I'd learn graphics programming. For that, I started learning C++, because that is the best language for the job.
C++ has since become my favourite language, primarily because you have to have such a fundamental knowledge of how memory and other things related to it work.
What better way is there to showcase what I've learnt about graphics programming than actually showing the graphics? You can find my graphics programming montage below.
Robotics and IoT
When I was in 7th grade, my father bought me Arduino Uno and Mega Micro-Controllers and guided me initially. I have created many projects making use of different modules like ultrasonic sensors, LDR sensors, GPS Module, joystick, number pad etc. I have also developed a mobile-application used for controlling home-appliances with voice commands. For this, I used WiFi and Bluetooth modules and Blynk Application.
My biggest project was a Collision-Avoiding Car. I faced many challenges like power and load management, friction control, rotation control etc., which gave me a thorough knowledge about real-life challenges.
Music
My musical journey started when my father taught me how to play "Ab Tum Hi Ho" from the Hindi film Ashiqui-2 on the keyboard. After that I kept on learning.
My Musical Performances from my childhood
Some more recent ones
My Original Productions
Later, I started producing electronic music as well. I have released many singles on YouTube and Spotify. I am looking forward to excel in it. Some of my best compositions are here.
Drawing
When I was in 5th grade, I used to draw. I think I was good at it, but I just kinda lost touch.
