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Programmers of the past

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  • J Josh Smith

    What roles in society do you think most of today's software developers would have occupied in times before the electronic computer existed?

    :josh: My WPF Blog[^]

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    Gary Wheeler
    wrote on last edited by
    #52

    I would have been what all of the men in my family have been: a craftsman. My ancestors have been machine operators, tool & die workers, made wooden cigar boxes, and there was probably a wheelwright in there somewhere (given my last name). Interesting; I just noticed that most of us have treated this as if you asked "What job would you have had in times before..." :)


    Software Zen: delete this;

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    • J Josh Smith

      What roles in society do you think most of today's software developers would have occupied in times before the electronic computer existed?

      :josh: My WPF Blog[^]

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      jlwarlow
      wrote on last edited by
      #53

      Josh Smith wrote:

      What roles in society do you think most of today's software developers would have occupied in times before the electronic computer existed?

      In "the old days" sons usually followed in their father's footsteps. In which case I would have been a nurse working in an old people's home wiping sh*t up after incontinent people. Thank God computers _are_ around and we don't follow in their footsteps! :-D

      Never argue with an imbecile; they bring you down to their level, and beat you with experience.

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      • G Gary Wheeler

        I would have been what all of the men in my family have been: a craftsman. My ancestors have been machine operators, tool & die workers, made wooden cigar boxes, and there was probably a wheelwright in there somewhere (given my last name). Interesting; I just noticed that most of us have treated this as if you asked "What job would you have had in times before..." :)


        Software Zen: delete this;

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        Josh Smith
        wrote on last edited by
        #54

        Gary Wheeler wrote:

        Interesting; I just noticed that most of us have treated this as if you asked "What job would you have had in times before..."

        Yeah, I noticed that too. Very odd. There was a clearly worded spec, but the resultant product was way off base... ;P

        :josh: My WPF Blog[^]

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        • J Josh Smith

          What roles in society do you think most of today's software developers would have occupied in times before the electronic computer existed?

          :josh: My WPF Blog[^]

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          Anna Jayne Metcalfe
          wrote on last edited by
          #55

          I'd probably have ended up in either medicine (which runs in my family) or coporate finance (my Dad made me promise never to become an accountant!).

          Anna :rose: Linting the day away :cool: Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter "If mushy peas are the food of the devil, the stotty cake is the frisbee of God"

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          • J Josh Smith

            What roles in society do you think most of today's software developers would have occupied in times before the electronic computer existed?

            :josh: My WPF Blog[^]

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            pgorbas
            wrote on last edited by
            #56

            I think many of us, if we were not Software Engineers, would either be Electrical Engineers ( and hence creating that computer again ), or Mechanical Engineers or Architects.:)

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            • J Josh Smith

              What roles in society do you think most of today's software developers would have occupied in times before the electronic computer existed?

              :josh: My WPF Blog[^]

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              z974647
              wrote on last edited by
              #57

              Either a musician or a mathematician

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              • J Josh Smith

                What roles in society do you think most of today's software developers would have occupied in times before the electronic computer existed?

                :josh: My WPF Blog[^]

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                SIRVACodeGuy
                wrote on last edited by
                #58

                Dead. That's what I'd be. There is so much about my body that is barely functional, that, if I was born 50 years earlier, I'd never have lived to be 50. (I'll turn 50 late this month...I hope:omg:) If my body would have survived, I might have been killed as a heretic, since I think so far outside the box so often.

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                • M Maximilien

                  chef ( as in a restaurant chef ) why ? Because a developing a recipe is like developing a program, one must find a "solution" to a "problem", abstracted to the actual running or cooking of the recipe which is cooked by a cook. A recipe is the source code and the cook ( and the kitchen ) is the compiler and computer. and remember, garbage in garbage out apply.


                  Maximilien Lincourt Your Head A Splode - Strong Bad

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                  rtalan
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #59

                  Hmmmm... That is a scary observation. I was a cook before I was a programmer.

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                  • B Brady Kelly

                    I would very likely have been a lawyer. I am something of a pedant and stickler for technicalities. I was inspired in high school when I read Dickens' David Copperfield, and the firm of proctors he joined. We lived in proctor street at the time, and it seemed a little like a message to me. Stupidly I allowed myself to be dissuaded by a friend who tried studying law after school, and I took up something I knew a lot about and was interesting. Now that I am studying law, I cannot see how anyone can find anything boring about it.

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                    tlw1145
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #60

                    I was (and still am) an electronics technician. I got roped into programming in 1973 when no one else wanted to do it! I would probably be fixing them.

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                    • J Josh Smith

                      What roles in society do you think most of today's software developers would have occupied in times before the electronic computer existed?

                      :josh: My WPF Blog[^]

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                      GABBYNERD
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #61

                      They would have been Philosophers, which is to say they would have been BS artists (according to Mel Brooks -> History of the World Part I);P The whole "Did you BS today? No! Did you BS yesterday? No!", goes nicely with the Analysis and Design phase.

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                      • A Anton Afanasyev

                        Food debugging....sounds fun;P


                        :badger:

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                        Jorge Varas
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #62

                        Not for Simba!

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                        • G GABBYNERD

                          They would have been Philosophers, which is to say they would have been BS artists (according to Mel Brooks -> History of the World Part I);P The whole "Did you BS today? No! Did you BS yesterday? No!", goes nicely with the Analysis and Design phase.

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                          brainiac2005
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #63

                          I never would have been an electrical engineer; I really don't like that stuff. I like figuring out how to write programs as well as numbers, logic puzzles, and Sudoku's, so I probably would have been some kind of financial analyst who did Sudoku's puzzles for fun. ~The Chad

                          Respectfully, Chad Johnson Tools Programmer

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                          • M Maximilien

                            chef ( as in a restaurant chef ) why ? Because a developing a recipe is like developing a program, one must find a "solution" to a "problem", abstracted to the actual running or cooking of the recipe which is cooked by a cook. A recipe is the source code and the cook ( and the kitchen ) is the compiler and computer. and remember, garbage in garbage out apply.


                            Maximilien Lincourt Your Head A Splode - Strong Bad

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                            Jasmine2501
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #64

                            Yeah me too... I have cooked in all kinds of places and put myself through college working at a steakhouse. I don't cook much these days though, not even for myself. If I do, it's cookies or candy or something like that. It wasn't a conscious decision though... it was the job that I could get, and then later I found out I liked it and progressed to higher positions. If I had the choice, I probably would have chosen something else.

                            "Quality Software since 1983!"
                            http://www.smoothjazzy.com/ - see the "Programming" section for freeware tools and articles.

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                            • M Member 96

                              That's funny because that's exactly what I would be if I wasn't a programmer.

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                              rider33
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #65

                              jejejejeje, i had the same propuse in my life, to be a chef ;P, but a computer came to my life and everything change :-D. How else have the same history???

                              join me

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                              • J Josh Smith

                                What roles in society do you think most of today's software developers would have occupied in times before the electronic computer existed?

                                :josh: My WPF Blog[^]

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                                Mcsquare
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #66

                                I've noticed that many programmers are also musicians. There seems to be a correlation between people good with math and an aptitude for music. Not true in my case, but then I never had the chance to take music lessons as a child. So, musicians or accountants seem likely professions. The part of programming I personnally enjoy is debugging. To me it's kinda like solving a good mystery before you get to the end of the book. So maybe I would have been a detective. In reality though, being female, prior to the 1950's, I would probably have been a stay at home mom.

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                                • J Josh Smith

                                  What roles in society do you think most of today's software developers would have occupied in times before the electronic computer existed?

                                  :josh: My WPF Blog[^]

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                                  patbob
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #67

                                  Most of them were electrical engineers. Prior to that, it was probably something in the automotive space (early adopters through hot rod enthusiasts).

                                  patbob

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                                  • J Josh Smith

                                    What roles in society do you think most of today's software developers would have occupied in times before the electronic computer existed?

                                    :josh: My WPF Blog[^]

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                                    Chris Kaiser
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #68

                                    Well, I started out with carpentry, music, and math. So, something to do with one of those.

                                    This statement was never false.

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                                    • J Josh Smith

                                      What roles in society do you think most of today's software developers would have occupied in times before the electronic computer existed?

                                      :josh: My WPF Blog[^]

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                                      iscottj
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #69

                                      I think today's software developers would be a tradesman. I'm thinking I would be a blacksmith or a printer.

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                                      • J Josh Smith

                                        What roles in society do you think most of today's software developers would have occupied in times before the electronic computer existed?

                                        :josh: My WPF Blog[^]

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                                        Lost User
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #70

                                        Pyramid Designers (RE: think of the calculation that had to be made to align the pyramids and Sphinx up with various constellation.)

                                        Shohom67

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                                        • J Josh Smith

                                          What roles in society do you think most of today's software developers would have occupied in times before the electronic computer existed?

                                          :josh: My WPF Blog[^]

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                                          Vasudevan Deepak Kumar
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #71

                                          Accounts section in offices, Chefs, Bank Officers ...

                                          Vasudevan Deepak Kumar Personal Homepage Tech Gossips

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