What was the "Next Big Thing" when you started programming?
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Inspired by this SO thread, What was "the next big thing" when you guys started programming? I remember a couple things in college: -Java was big. Write once, run anywhere...people believed it. -There was some interest in, and lots of articles about, Microsoft's new version of COM+, which they named DotNet. Oh, and some interest in the Java copycat they called C#. -I distinctly remember my college textbooks claiming "natural languages" would be the future of programming. -To prepare me for the future, my college taught us Fortran and C. The closest thing I've come to utilizing either of these is the rare piece of C++ code I have to deal with on contracting gigs.
Religiously blogging on the intarwebs since the early 21st century: Kineti L'Tziyon
Judah HimangoI remember back in the 6th grade, having this cardboard instructional "computer". You used a pencil to write in pseudo codes and data into its 20-odd bytes of memory. Then you had this paper movable widget that acted as the IP (instruction pointer for the youngsters) that you moved through the code, and you would write the results of the instructions into a register or accumulator. It was actually quite interesting in giving a taste of what computer programming was about. As far the "next big thing", I remember a hobbyist kit for a MITS (?) computer that I drooled over in the electronics magazines back then. First computer was a TRS-80, sans expansion box, with only 4K RAM. Quickly modded that to 48k, and added the lower case mod as well (by design they only had upper case, which made word processing a real challenge). As far as the next big thing in programming at that time, it would have been Tiny Pascal - got a copy of the source code from some computer mag, might have been an early edition of Dr Dobbs back when they were in print. I got it mostly working, but the print quality was really bad (newsprint) and I was never sure if I had typed it all in correctly. I can remember when I got an assembler, after outgrowing the built-in Basic - quite the speed improvement. And incredible the number of ways you can crash a machine. Then I can recall hearing these rumours that IBM was going to put out some sort of personal computer...
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Inspired by this SO thread, What was "the next big thing" when you guys started programming? I remember a couple things in college: -Java was big. Write once, run anywhere...people believed it. -There was some interest in, and lots of articles about, Microsoft's new version of COM+, which they named DotNet. Oh, and some interest in the Java copycat they called C#. -I distinctly remember my college textbooks claiming "natural languages" would be the future of programming. -To prepare me for the future, my college taught us Fortran and C. The closest thing I've come to utilizing either of these is the rare piece of C++ code I have to deal with on contracting gigs.
Religiously blogging on the intarwebs since the early 21st century: Kineti L'Tziyon
Judah HimangoAda, the new DOD language and the programming methodology it implemented, OOD, was going to revolutionize defense software development. The rest of the world was starting to realize that C might be worth using. Years later, I taught introductory C/C++ to a group of COBOL programmers from a local bank. They took to it alright, had a little trouble with pointers but caught on quickly. But what really struck me was that they were as arrogant about their COBOL as any programmer is about "their" language. "Oh, you use C? I always thought Real Programmers use COBOL." I was honestly surprised.
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We used to look up to people who had pebbles. They were posh.
"WPF has many lovers. It's a veritable porn star!" - Josh Smith
As Braveheart once said, "You can take our freedom but you'll never take our Hobnobs!" - Martin Hughes.
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I started programming in high school (1983). So the IBM PC was out, but no one I knew had one. Therefore I wasn't aware of any buzz about "the next big thing" -- I'm sure that people working in the industry knew what was going on, and may have been buzzed about the advent of the Macintosh X|. In high school and my first college we used DEC systems (PDP and VAX) so, again, not much buzz about "the next big thing" -- maybe the biggest was getting Whitesmith's C on the VAX, but the teachers didn't know how to compile it! X| My second college had VAXen and 386s, and there was significant buzz -- about OS2! Ooh, you shoulda heard the idiots going on about how great OS2 was gonna be and how it was gonna kill DOS! :rolleyes: Turbo Pascal v5.0 and Turbo C++ v1.0 were released while I was in college; I jumped right on them. Another important "next big thing" for me in those days was the Alpha chip (1992). After that, really only C# qualifies, I got real excited when I read the first spec (1999), and was disappointed to learn that Microsoft wouldn't release a compiler until "the next version of Visual Studio"! X| (2002! :wtf: ) Generally, the bigger the hype, the bigger the flop -- don't pay attention to hype, don't be an early adopter.
OS2 really did kill DOS .... kinda sorta. OS2 was initially a joint venture between IBM and Microsoft. Late in the game, the Microsoft devs disappeared and before you know it NT hit the market (amazing like OS2 with some improvements). And the rest is history.
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Inspired by this SO thread, What was "the next big thing" when you guys started programming? I remember a couple things in college: -Java was big. Write once, run anywhere...people believed it. -There was some interest in, and lots of articles about, Microsoft's new version of COM+, which they named DotNet. Oh, and some interest in the Java copycat they called C#. -I distinctly remember my college textbooks claiming "natural languages" would be the future of programming. -To prepare me for the future, my college taught us Fortran and C. The closest thing I've come to utilizing either of these is the rare piece of C++ code I have to deal with on contracting gigs.
Religiously blogging on the intarwebs since the early 21st century: Kineti L'Tziyon
Judah Himango -
The Altair 8800. Still resides in my attic.
I'm not a programmer but I play one at the office
Yeah, :laugh: but does the Altair work if so, I think EBay might be interested!! Man I would love to play with one of those!! Glenn
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Yeah, :laugh: but does the Altair work if so, I think EBay might be interested!! Man I would love to play with one of those!! Glenn
It probably functions but I have doubts about the ability to load any of the disks I have. Maybe the optical paper tape reader would still work but CP/M was on disk. Now if I felt like loading something through the front panel switches...... Now, where did I put that CRT monitor.
I'm not a programmer but I play one at the office
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Inspired by this SO thread, What was "the next big thing" when you guys started programming? I remember a couple things in college: -Java was big. Write once, run anywhere...people believed it. -There was some interest in, and lots of articles about, Microsoft's new version of COM+, which they named DotNet. Oh, and some interest in the Java copycat they called C#. -I distinctly remember my college textbooks claiming "natural languages" would be the future of programming. -To prepare me for the future, my college taught us Fortran and C. The closest thing I've come to utilizing either of these is the rare piece of C++ code I have to deal with on contracting gigs.
Religiously blogging on the intarwebs since the early 21st century: Kineti L'Tziyon
Judah Himango -
It probably functions but I have doubts about the ability to load any of the disks I have. Maybe the optical paper tape reader would still work but CP/M was on disk. Now if I felt like loading something through the front panel switches...... Now, where did I put that CRT monitor.
I'm not a programmer but I play one at the office
Do you have any of the original Manuals for the Altair (written by Forrest M Mimms III of Radio Shack fame I believe) I'm partically interested in a complete schematic of the beast as I can't find one. I'm not a programmer but an Electronics engineer made to play with Windoze! Glenn
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Do you have any of the original Manuals for the Altair (written by Forrest M Mimms III of Radio Shack fame I believe) I'm partically interested in a complete schematic of the beast as I can't find one. I'm not a programmer but an Electronics engineer made to play with Windoze! Glenn
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OS2 really did kill DOS .... kinda sorta. OS2 was initially a joint venture between IBM and Microsoft. Late in the game, the Microsoft devs disappeared and before you know it NT hit the market (amazing like OS2 with some improvements). And the rest is history.
I thought NT was the product of ex-VMS engineers. :-D
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Inspired by this SO thread, What was "the next big thing" when you guys started programming? I remember a couple things in college: -Java was big. Write once, run anywhere...people believed it. -There was some interest in, and lots of articles about, Microsoft's new version of COM+, which they named DotNet. Oh, and some interest in the Java copycat they called C#. -I distinctly remember my college textbooks claiming "natural languages" would be the future of programming. -To prepare me for the future, my college taught us Fortran and C. The closest thing I've come to utilizing either of these is the rare piece of C++ code I have to deal with on contracting gigs.
Religiously blogging on the intarwebs since the early 21st century: Kineti L'Tziyon
Judah Himango -
Inspired by this SO thread, What was "the next big thing" when you guys started programming? I remember a couple things in college: -Java was big. Write once, run anywhere...people believed it. -There was some interest in, and lots of articles about, Microsoft's new version of COM+, which they named DotNet. Oh, and some interest in the Java copycat they called C#. -I distinctly remember my college textbooks claiming "natural languages" would be the future of programming. -To prepare me for the future, my college taught us Fortran and C. The closest thing I've come to utilizing either of these is the rare piece of C++ code I have to deal with on contracting gigs.
Religiously blogging on the intarwebs since the early 21st century: Kineti L'Tziyon
Judah Himango -
Inspired by this SO thread, What was "the next big thing" when you guys started programming? I remember a couple things in college: -Java was big. Write once, run anywhere...people believed it. -There was some interest in, and lots of articles about, Microsoft's new version of COM+, which they named DotNet. Oh, and some interest in the Java copycat they called C#. -I distinctly remember my college textbooks claiming "natural languages" would be the future of programming. -To prepare me for the future, my college taught us Fortran and C. The closest thing I've come to utilizing either of these is the rare piece of C++ code I have to deal with on contracting gigs.
Religiously blogging on the intarwebs since the early 21st century: Kineti L'Tziyon
Judah HimangoWow! In my second year as a CS major, Popular Electronics had a picture of the MITS Altair on the cover. When I saw that, I knew right then to change direction and not put so much emphasis into programming mainframes with punched cards. And consequently, I was much further ahead of most people waking up to the micro revolution. I was really surprised that it took the industry so long to realize the benefit of the personal/individual computer. The only reason I'm not filthy rich, is that I was a drunken horndog and an immature dork (much like most of my contemporaries). I let probably 10+ fantastic opportunities to really make it big, just slide right through my fingers. I certainly helped a lot of other people get rich, but I made such horrible decisions when it came to my own ideas and work.
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Wow! In my second year as a CS major, Popular Electronics had a picture of the MITS Altair on the cover. When I saw that, I knew right then to change direction and not put so much emphasis into programming mainframes with punched cards. And consequently, I was much further ahead of most people waking up to the micro revolution. I was really surprised that it took the industry so long to realize the benefit of the personal/individual computer. The only reason I'm not filthy rich, is that I was a drunken horndog and an immature dork (much like most of my contemporaries). I let probably 10+ fantastic opportunities to really make it big, just slide right through my fingers. I certainly helped a lot of other people get rich, but I made such horrible decisions when it came to my own ideas and work.
Larry G. Grimes wrote:
The only reason I'm not filthy rich, is that I was a drunken horndog and an immature dork (much like most of my contemporaries). I let probably 10+ fantastic opportunities to really make it big, just slide right through my fingers. I certainly helped a lot of other people get rich, but I made such horrible decisions when it came to my own ideas and work.
Well, maybe it's a good thing, then, that you didn't get rich; it would likely have only promoted the horndoginess of your youth. :)
Religiously blogging on the intarwebs since the early 21st century: Kineti L'Tziyon
Judah Himango -
Larry G. Grimes wrote:
The only reason I'm not filthy rich, is that I was a drunken horndog and an immature dork (much like most of my contemporaries). I let probably 10+ fantastic opportunities to really make it big, just slide right through my fingers. I certainly helped a lot of other people get rich, but I made such horrible decisions when it came to my own ideas and work.
Well, maybe it's a good thing, then, that you didn't get rich; it would likely have only promoted the horndoginess of your youth. :)
Religiously blogging on the intarwebs since the early 21st century: Kineti L'Tziyon
Judah HimangoYou're right. I'm actually pretty lucky I didn't make it so big. One of my earlier associates was George Tate, one of the founders of Ashton-Tate of dBase fame. George died at 40, in 1983 obviously due to complications from a lifestyle of excess. The last time I talked to him in 1982, he had just returned from a vacation in the Carribean and was boasting about how little sleep he got and how fun all the partying was.
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Inspired by this SO thread, What was "the next big thing" when you guys started programming? I remember a couple things in college: -Java was big. Write once, run anywhere...people believed it. -There was some interest in, and lots of articles about, Microsoft's new version of COM+, which they named DotNet. Oh, and some interest in the Java copycat they called C#. -I distinctly remember my college textbooks claiming "natural languages" would be the future of programming. -To prepare me for the future, my college taught us Fortran and C. The closest thing I've come to utilizing either of these is the rare piece of C++ code I have to deal with on contracting gigs.
Religiously blogging on the intarwebs since the early 21st century: Kineti L'Tziyon
Judah HimangoMy first programming course used punch cards for Fortran. Using terminals was big new stuff. Using a modem at 110 baud to work from home was amazing. A DECwriter going 1200 buad was just unbelievably fast. Java was coffee. Real languages were PL/C derivatives... ;P
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Inspired by this SO thread, What was "the next big thing" when you guys started programming? I remember a couple things in college: -Java was big. Write once, run anywhere...people believed it. -There was some interest in, and lots of articles about, Microsoft's new version of COM+, which they named DotNet. Oh, and some interest in the Java copycat they called C#. -I distinctly remember my college textbooks claiming "natural languages" would be the future of programming. -To prepare me for the future, my college taught us Fortran and C. The closest thing I've come to utilizing either of these is the rare piece of C++ code I have to deal with on contracting gigs.
Religiously blogging on the intarwebs since the early 21st century: Kineti L'Tziyon
Judah HimangoDigital Computing - I started using analog computers, use patch wires to creates integrators, adders, etc. Digital was fantastic, but at the time still to slow to model complex real time problems.
Melting Away www.deals-house.com www.innovative--concepts.com
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Inspired by this SO thread, What was "the next big thing" when you guys started programming? I remember a couple things in college: -Java was big. Write once, run anywhere...people believed it. -There was some interest in, and lots of articles about, Microsoft's new version of COM+, which they named DotNet. Oh, and some interest in the Java copycat they called C#. -I distinctly remember my college textbooks claiming "natural languages" would be the future of programming. -To prepare me for the future, my college taught us Fortran and C. The closest thing I've come to utilizing either of these is the rare piece of C++ code I have to deal with on contracting gigs.
Religiously blogging on the intarwebs since the early 21st century: Kineti L'Tziyon
Judah HimangoI'm very young in here! For me, the big thing was PHP and PHP ready-made tools (portals, forums).
Mohamed Meligy Senior Developer and Technical Speaker http://GuruStop.NET
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Youngun :) There was CGA, then MCGA, EGA, VGA, SVGA... And you probably know the rest. I remember working with 16 colors, aptly numbered 0 to 15 (After that it looped through the first 16, but flashing).
Proud to have finally moved to the A-Ark. Which one are you in?
Author of Guardians of Xen (Sci-Fi/Fantasy novel)