Why did you start programming?
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Nice sig. I'm honored! :-D Marc Help! I'm an AI running around in someone's f*cked up universe simulator.
sensitivity and ethnic diversity means celebrating difference, not hiding from it. - Christian GrausSoon or later we will all end up in each other's sig. It's just a matter of time!
he he he. I like it in the kitchen! - Marc Clifton (on being flamed) Awasu v0.4a[^]: A free RSS reader with support for Code Project.
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I'm socially handicapped so a career as a loner was all that was really open to me. It was either this or architecture and I'll be damned if I am going to spend seven years at university just to draw a couple of bungalows.
David Wulff http://www.davidwulff.co.uk
You know something: I care about people
There is currently a worldwide shortage of shepherds; have you considered the fringe benefits? "How many times do I have to flush before you go away?" - Megan Forbes, on Management (12/5/2002)
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I love to know the reason's why people do things so here I go again. Why did we all get into this thing called coding? For me I wanted to me girls, kidding :) I hung out with the nerds in high school and I was the hardware guy and I just got tired of not knowing who the hard and software worked together, so I got involved with Pascal, then Basic, then C++ then VB took a break to work with linux, (don't ask) now I'm going at C# with the excitment of a 5 month old goes for a toy.:laugh: It's not a crime to be innocent of things you have not done.--New Model Army
wanderlust wrote: Why did we all get into this thing called coding? Once upon a time I built this thing called an Altair 8800. It was a bit of a challenge, as my predecessor in the job had tried, failed, ripped out all the wires, and threw away the documentation for it. But I backtraced all the circuits, figured out where everything should go, built it, then diagnosed and repaired some shorted traces on the memory cards. Sadly, though, when I turned it on it just sat there glaring at me with 16 red eyes. Obviously something was not right with this picture. It then dawned on me that it was waiting for me to tell it to do something, so I entertained myself by making it blink its lights, teaching it to JMP, CALLing it in different clever ways, but when I wanted it to do something useful, NOP. So I sat down with the Intel 8080 data sheets, wrote an OS for it to load and run programs, then added an Assembler to make programs. Designing and installing an interface to let it talk to a Teletype was the final step - I could then load my OS from a paper tape, a process that took only 20 minutes and a vast improvement over entering the code one byte at a time from the front panel toggle switches. I got hooked, and I've been dabbling in code in one form or another ever since. "How many times do I have to flush before you go away?" - Megan Forbes, on Management (12/5/2002)
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Back in the 80's people told me data entry was the only job my interest in computers might lead to. Christian No offense, but I don't really want to encourage the creation of another VB developer. - Larry Antram 22 Oct 2002 C# will attract all comers, where VB is for IT Journalists and managers - Michael P Butler 05-12-2002 Again, you can screw up a C/C++ program just as easily as a VB program. OK, maybe not as easily, but it's certainly doable. - Jamie Nordmeyer - 15-Nov-2002
Actually it was amazing how many DE operators would allow people to think they were programmers. The mere mention that you worked with computers, elevated your social status. Regardz Colin J Davies
Sonork ID 100.9197:Colin
You are the intrepid one, always willing to leap into the fray! A serious character flaw, I might add, but entertaining. Said by Roger Wright about me.
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I love to know the reason's why people do things so here I go again. Why did we all get into this thing called coding? For me I wanted to me girls, kidding :) I hung out with the nerds in high school and I was the hardware guy and I just got tired of not knowing who the hard and software worked together, so I got involved with Pascal, then Basic, then C++ then VB took a break to work with linux, (don't ask) now I'm going at C# with the excitment of a 5 month old goes for a toy.:laugh: It's not a crime to be innocent of things you have not done.--New Model Army
Because I generally dislike and distrust people. Computers used to be a safe haven from the bozos, and then along comes the freakin internet and Microsoft... ------- signature starts "...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001 Please review the Legal Disclaimer in my bio. ------- signature ends
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Because I generally dislike and distrust people. Computers used to be a safe haven from the bozos, and then along comes the freakin internet and Microsoft... ------- signature starts "...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001 Please review the Legal Disclaimer in my bio. ------- signature ends
John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote: Because I generally dislike and distrust people. A career in Law, Dentistry, or Politics might have been a natural fit... but coding's a good choice. "How many times do I have to flush before you go away?" - Megan Forbes, on Management (12/5/2002)
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I'm socially handicapped so a career as a loner was all that was really open to me. It was either this or architecture and I'll be damned if I am going to spend seven years at university just to draw a couple of bungalows.
David Wulff http://www.davidwulff.co.uk
You know something: I care about people
David Wulff wrote: I'm socially handicapped so a career as a loner was all that was really open to me. Didn't the Tiverton Dwarves have any positions open when you were looking for work? ;P Michael Martin Australia mjm68@tpg.com.au "I personally love it because I can get as down and dirty as I want on the backend, while also being able to dabble with fun scripting and presentation games on the front end." - Chris Maunder 15/07/2002
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There is currently a worldwide shortage of shepherds; have you considered the fringe benefits? "How many times do I have to flush before you go away?" - Megan Forbes, on Management (12/5/2002)
Whatever are you hinting at Roger? :~
David Wulff http://www.davidwulff.co.uk
Live for today and die tomorrow.
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David Wulff wrote: I'm socially handicapped so a career as a loner was all that was really open to me. Didn't the Tiverton Dwarves have any positions open when you were looking for work? ;P Michael Martin Australia mjm68@tpg.com.au "I personally love it because I can get as down and dirty as I want on the backend, while also being able to dabble with fun scripting and presentation games on the front end." - Chris Maunder 15/07/2002
I did enquire, but even at only twelve years old I was far too tall... :rolleyes:
David Wulff http://www.davidwulff.co.uk
Live for today and die tomorrow.
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I love to know the reason's why people do things so here I go again. Why did we all get into this thing called coding? For me I wanted to me girls, kidding :) I hung out with the nerds in high school and I was the hardware guy and I just got tired of not knowing who the hard and software worked together, so I got involved with Pascal, then Basic, then C++ then VB took a break to work with linux, (don't ask) now I'm going at C# with the excitment of a 5 month old goes for a toy.:laugh: It's not a crime to be innocent of things you have not done.--New Model Army
I was about 11 when I got really hooked on pogramming (in HP-Basic on an HP-85 my dad brought home from work) and I think what I really liked was that you had complete control - the computer did exactly what you told it to do - and if something didn't work as expected you only had yourself to blame. (yes, that was before operating system and compiler/interpreter bugs)
Mike Sax http://www.Sax.net Rock Solid Components™
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I love to know the reason's why people do things so here I go again. Why did we all get into this thing called coding? For me I wanted to me girls, kidding :) I hung out with the nerds in high school and I was the hardware guy and I just got tired of not knowing who the hard and software worked together, so I got involved with Pascal, then Basic, then C++ then VB took a break to work with linux, (don't ask) now I'm going at C# with the excitment of a 5 month old goes for a toy.:laugh: It's not a crime to be innocent of things you have not done.--New Model Army
Because of a movie called "War Games" :) Actually I started out as an EE major in college, but all that I really wanted to do was design digital circuitry. It would have been another two years of courses before we got to that in my ciriculum. Also at the time I had a job drafting and scripting CAD/CAM programs for a mass manufacturing company. The company that I worked for wanted to write a small in house program to allow small shops to control a miniature version of the machines that we used. So I wrote a demo of this program in Pascal and they said they would let me write it. So then I taught myself Windows and C++ at the same time in order to write this program. So I picked up a copy of Charles Petzold's Programming Windows 3.1 book and tried to get started. I was very confused at first and I remember just staring at the screen for an entire month just struggling through the syntax and trying to do things in Windows and modify examples from Petzold's book. I told my supervisor that I was not sure that I could do this, but luckily he had faith in me and within the next day or so every thing clicked and I was on my way. Shortly after that I knew that programming was what I wanted to do. Because it is very similar to digital logic with out having to worry about all of the analog stuff that was boring me with electricity. So I changed my major, and the rest is history. I wish I would have been connected to the internet and had a site like CP in those days, it would have made the beginning of my journey a whole lot easier :)
Build a man a fire, and he will be warm for a day
Light a man on fire, and he will be warm for the rest of his life! -
I love to know the reason's why people do things so here I go again. Why did we all get into this thing called coding? For me I wanted to me girls, kidding :) I hung out with the nerds in high school and I was the hardware guy and I just got tired of not knowing who the hard and software worked together, so I got involved with Pascal, then Basic, then C++ then VB took a break to work with linux, (don't ask) now I'm going at C# with the excitment of a 5 month old goes for a toy.:laugh: It's not a crime to be innocent of things you have not done.--New Model Army
For me, there's only one reason....Games(computer, of course).I like, no , love games. I'm doing this so that someday, i might actually know enough to make my own!.:-D Notorious SMC
The difference between the almost-right word & the right word is a really large matter - it's the difference between the lightning bug and the Lightning Mark Twain
Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please Mark Twain -
I love to know the reason's why people do things so here I go again. Why did we all get into this thing called coding? For me I wanted to me girls, kidding :) I hung out with the nerds in high school and I was the hardware guy and I just got tired of not knowing who the hard and software worked together, so I got involved with Pascal, then Basic, then C++ then VB took a break to work with linux, (don't ask) now I'm going at C# with the excitment of a 5 month old goes for a toy.:laugh: It's not a crime to be innocent of things you have not done.--New Model Army
wanderlust wrote: Why did we all get into this thing called coding? Girls did not like me. Sports did not like me. Generally other people did not like me. But a computer has never judged me. Then I found Snake in BASIC and started tinkering with it. I was hooked. Now girls and other people like me, but I still suck at sports.
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaChristopher Duncan wrote: Which explains why when Santa asked, "And what do you want for Christmas, little boy?" I said, "A life." (Accesories sold separately)
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I love to know the reason's why people do things so here I go again. Why did we all get into this thing called coding? For me I wanted to me girls, kidding :) I hung out with the nerds in high school and I was the hardware guy and I just got tired of not knowing who the hard and software worked together, so I got involved with Pascal, then Basic, then C++ then VB took a break to work with linux, (don't ask) now I'm going at C# with the excitment of a 5 month old goes for a toy.:laugh: It's not a crime to be innocent of things you have not done.--New Model Army
I received this computer[^] as a 11-year old birthday gift. It was a ZX-81 clone, with 16K RAM and 3.25Mhz (ok, only 17% of this clock was available because the CPU wsa responsible for refreshing video) At that time, my dad worked at Prológica. When I received it, the only thing it was possible doing with it was programming in BASIC and ASM. And that was what I did. I went in love with programming and never stoped since. I see dumb people
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I'm socially handicapped so a career as a loner was all that was really open to me. It was either this or architecture and I'll be damned if I am going to spend seven years at university just to draw a couple of bungalows.
David Wulff http://www.davidwulff.co.uk
You know something: I care about people
I don't know, you might get a chance to build the homes of BT executives......:laugh: Would you like to meet my teddy bear ?
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John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote: Because I generally dislike and distrust people. A career in Law, Dentistry, or Politics might have been a natural fit... but coding's a good choice. "How many times do I have to flush before you go away?" - Megan Forbes, on Management (12/5/2002)
Roger Wright wrote: A career in Law, Dentistry, or Politics might have been a natural fit But then I'd be contributing to the general chaos. ------- signature starts "...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001 Please review the Legal Disclaimer in my bio. ------- signature ends
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I love to know the reason's why people do things so here I go again. Why did we all get into this thing called coding? For me I wanted to me girls, kidding :) I hung out with the nerds in high school and I was the hardware guy and I just got tired of not knowing who the hard and software worked together, so I got involved with Pascal, then Basic, then C++ then VB took a break to work with linux, (don't ask) now I'm going at C# with the excitment of a 5 month old goes for a toy.:laugh: It's not a crime to be innocent of things you have not done.--New Model Army
I was 10 years old, lived in the middle of no where Alabama :) My parents bought a Commodore 64 that year and instead of playing games I started learning how to write programs out of reading magazines.
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found a Commodore Pet in a classroom when i was 12. been at it ever since.
There's one easy way to prove the effectiveness of 'letting the market decide' when it comes to environmental protection. It's spelt 'S-U-V'. --Holgate, from Plastic
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I was 10 years old, lived in the middle of no where Alabama :) My parents bought a Commodore 64 that year and instead of playing games I started learning how to write programs out of reading magazines.
Hey, a fellow Commie! :-) I was 12 I think when my parents got me a Commodore 64 and a tape drive one Christmas...the following Christmas I got the floppy drive, and the year after a printer!! :eek: Since there wasn't much to do with tapes and no software, I typed in the code samples from the manual that came with it, and followed up with code from magazines. By the time I was in high school and had "proper" programming courses available to me, I was comfortable enough to coding to sleep through most of it. :-)
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Roger Wright wrote: A career in Law, Dentistry, or Politics might have been a natural fit But then I'd be contributing to the general chaos. ------- signature starts "...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001 Please review the Legal Disclaimer in my bio. ------- signature ends
LOL! You're right; I hadn't thought it through. I'm not sure, though, that writing software that assists Induhviduals in being more efficient in doing whatever it is they do is particularly beneficial to the cause, either. "How many times do I have to flush before you go away?" - Megan Forbes, on Management (12/5/2002)