Kid loves video games. Kid wants to know how video games are made. Kid reads the Wikipedia version of how it all works.

In most cases that’s the end of it. In the Klein household the narrative stretches a bit further:

Kid checks out a copy of "Beginning Programming for Dummies." Kid checks out more books about programming and computer science. Kid watches hours and hours of YouTube videos on programming and coding.

"I’ve always liked math," says kid, also known as Punahou sophomore Mark Klein. "And programming goes right alongside with math."

And so: Kid writes programs of his own. Kid develops his own apps. Kid earns a grand prize at the 2013 Google Code-in.

"My mom was thrilled," Klein says.

In fact, the Google Code-in was a perfect outlet for someone of Klein’s talent and inclinations. Designed to introduce students age 13 to 17 to the craft of open-source coding, the competition drew nearly 340 participants from 46 countries.

Over seven weeks the participants worked on open-source projects for 10 organizations. Klein collaborated with students from Argentina, Australia and elsewhere to debug programs and complete other tasks involving documentation, outreach, research, quality assurance and user interface for Drupal, a content management company.

In the end Klein was selected as one of 20 grand-prize winners. He and his family will travel to Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., next month to meet with mentors, tour San Francisco and attend an awards ceremony.

"I always try to do the best that I can," Klein says. "It’s not so much about how much I achieve, but that quality of what I achieve."

Klein said he finds similar satisfaction as a competitive runner for his school.

The 16-year-old has participated in track and cross-country since he was in middle school. His specialty is the 800-meter run, an event that requires equal parts physical and mental ability.

As in the coding competition, Klein says the enjoyment comes in performing an individual task in service to a team goal.

Klein says he intends to continue refining his computer skills and staying in touch with his new colleagues.

"The best part was working together with all those other students from around the world," Klein said. "It was a competition, but we communicated with each other because we were more effective working together than working on our own. I think that continuing to work with this community will really benefit me, and in turn I’ll be able to help the community as well."

Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@staradvertiser.com.