Skip to content
  • Categories
  • Recent
  • Tags
  • Popular
  • World
  • Users
  • Groups
Skins
  • Light
  • Cerulean
  • Cosmo
  • Flatly
  • Journal
  • Litera
  • Lumen
  • Lux
  • Materia
  • Minty
  • Morph
  • Pulse
  • Sandstone
  • Simplex
  • Sketchy
  • Spacelab
  • United
  • Yeti
  • Zephyr
  • Dark
  • Cyborg
  • Darkly
  • Quartz
  • Slate
  • Solar
  • Superhero
  • Vapor

  • Default (No Skin)
  • No Skin
Collapse
Code Project
  1. Home
  2. The Lounge
  3. What made you start coding?

What made you start coding?

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved The Lounge
question
127 Posts 44 Posters 91 Views 1 Watching
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as topic
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
  • C CodeWraith

    COSMAC :-)

    Quote:

    The RCA-CDP1802 is a byte-oriented central process-ing unit (CPU) employing the COSMAC architecture and utilizing complementary-symmetry MOS technology (CMOS).

    RCA was a pioneer in early CMOS devices and sent quite a bit of it into space because of it's lower power consumption. Early on they even called CMOS COSMOS, which of course was a similar acronym.

    glennPattonWork wrote:

    Meant to ask how the Cosmic(?) Elf coming along?..

    It's my project for the winter and I want to replace lots of discrete logic with microcontrollers. AT least the tiny OS already works.

    I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats. His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.

    G Offline
    G Offline
    glennPattonWork3
    wrote on last edited by
    #44

    Well when I heard of it I was thinking a microcontroller could get rid of the discrete logic (and the joys of static/dynamic hazards due to propagation delay) but wasn't too sure if you wanted to go that route...

    C 1 Reply Last reply
    0
    • Sander RosselS Sander Rossel

      honey the codewitch wrote:

      It was my birthday last wednesday.

      Happy belated birthday! :D

      honey the codewitch wrote:

      probably your fault.

      I'm only pointing out bugs like forgetting to assign return variables or using single line if statements :(( But it's still probably my fault, so yeah :-\

      honey the codewitch wrote:

      or one of those old haggy witches that gets dragged through the village square and burned (my retirement plan #aesthetic)

      If I see more of those single line if statements this may well come sooner than you'd think... Here comes the trusty old pitchfork again! :D Anyway, threats promises aside, here's to 42 :beer:

      Best, Sander sanderrossel.com Continuous Integration, Delivery, and Deployment arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript Object-Oriented Programming in C# Succinctly

      H Offline
      H Offline
      honey the codewitch
      wrote on last edited by
      #45

      I've been meaning to tell you that I start with the braces. Then delete them. I'm not joking.

      When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.

      Sander RosselS 1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • H honey the codewitch

        I've been meaning to tell you that I start with the braces. Then delete them. I'm not joking.

        When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.

        Sander RosselS Offline
        Sander RosselS Offline
        Sander Rossel
        wrote on last edited by
        #46

        I... I don't... know... out of... words... :wtf: Luckily I'm not out of pitchforks though! X| Actual footage of me coming to your house[^] :D

        Best, Sander sanderrossel.com Continuous Integration, Delivery, and Deployment arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript Object-Oriented Programming in C# Succinctly

        H 1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter

          We all know that pet-projects are not to finish, but to learn and enjoy...

          "The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary." Vidal Sassoon, 1928 - 2012

          F Offline
          F Offline
          Forogar
          wrote on last edited by
          #47

          I have many, many pet projects that I started with great enthusiasm and curiosity, "can I make this work?". Many of them petered out once I got the "yes, I can make this work" stage as I lost any determination just to polish it to the end point. I wrote many games for my friends to play but if there was no interest from one or more of my friends then the project would fade away.

          - I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.

          1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • H honey the codewitch

            these days I'm sure you can. What with all the hobbyist kits out there now. best of luck with this project. i've been considering building a custom ECU for certain types of diesel engines - the kind used in schoolbusses and other medium industrial vehicles making them more suitable as boondocking vehicles, but i didn't have the property i needed to be able to work on one until maybe now. We'll see. It's a hail mary of an idea, but it's kind of cool if anything comes of it.

            When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.

            C Offline
            C Offline
            CodeWraith
            wrote on last edited by
            #48

            Schoolbus? How boring :-) The Elf's CDP1802 was the first processor to fly into space. It was even believed that it was aboard the Viking and Voyager probes, but that's probably not true. That would be great when Voyager Six returns.

            I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats. His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.

            H 1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • H honey the codewitch

              i was 8 when reagan was in office. I liked to read while eating breakfast. If not for that I may have never picked up that Applesoft BASIC manual that shipped with our craptastic Apple ][gs By the next year i was wiring stuff into the joystick port on the motherboard. 10 years later i was at microsoft.

              When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.

              K Offline
              K Offline
              kmoorevs
              wrote on last edited by
              #49

              My family got a TI/99-4a around '83 I think. I learned how to write BASIC programs to solve my HS algebra/geometry/trig homework problems. A few years later, I was at UNI as a CS major until I found a job that paid well, but interfered with lab hours so I quit school. 10 years later, I went back to school and finished. I got my first coding job before I graduated and I'm still here 20 years later! :)

              "Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse

              1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • C CodeWraith

                Schoolbus? How boring :-) The Elf's CDP1802 was the first processor to fly into space. It was even believed that it was aboard the Viking and Voyager probes, but that's probably not true. That would be great when Voyager Six returns.

                I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats. His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.

                H Offline
                H Offline
                honey the codewitch
                wrote on last edited by
                #50

                the exciting part isn't so much the tech, but what can be done with it.

                When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.

                1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • H honey the codewitch

                  i was 8 when reagan was in office. I liked to read while eating breakfast. If not for that I may have never picked up that Applesoft BASIC manual that shipped with our craptastic Apple ][gs By the next year i was wiring stuff into the joystick port on the motherboard. 10 years later i was at microsoft.

                  When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.

                  D Offline
                  D Offline
                  Daniel Pfeffer
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #51

                  When I was about 10, my father gave an AP course in FORTRAN for high-school students at the local University. He took me along a couple of times, and I was hooked. This was about the year 6 BT (Before Terminals). God only knows how many punched cards I ruined before I got a program that would compile. :-O

                  Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.

                  H 1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • D Daniel Pfeffer

                    When I was about 10, my father gave an AP course in FORTRAN for high-school students at the local University. He took me along a couple of times, and I was hooked. This was about the year 6 BT (Before Terminals). God only knows how many punched cards I ruined before I got a program that would compile. :-O

                    Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.

                    H Offline
                    H Offline
                    honey the codewitch
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #52

                    6 BT :laugh: :thumbsup::thumbsup:

                    When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • Sander RosselS Sander Rossel

                      You're not young, 40 is like ancient :laugh: And with 31 (almost 32) I'm not that young myself anymore :sigh: WoW came out when I was still in high school. I'd say I'm a little too young to have played Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, but I have played Age of Empires which was released only two years later :laugh: I've played Warcraft III though.

                      Best, Sander sanderrossel.com Continuous Integration, Delivery, and Deployment arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript Object-Oriented Programming in C# Succinctly

                      Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Offline
                      Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Offline
                      Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #53

                      Beware! I AM young... still...

                      "The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary." Vidal Sassoon, 1928 - 2012

                      "It never ceases to amaze me that a spacecraft launched in 1977 can be fixed remotely from Earth." ― Brian Cox

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • Sander RosselS Sander Rossel

                        I... I don't... know... out of... words... :wtf: Luckily I'm not out of pitchforks though! X| Actual footage of me coming to your house[^] :D

                        Best, Sander sanderrossel.com Continuous Integration, Delivery, and Deployment arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript Object-Oriented Programming in C# Succinctly

                        H Offline
                        H Offline
                        honey the codewitch
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #54

                        well you'll be happy to know that due to my aversion to this:

                                }
                             }
                          }
                        

                        }
                        }

                        I've been using Refactor->Extract Method what a wonderful feature.

                        When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.

                        1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • H honey the codewitch

                          i was 8 when reagan was in office. I liked to read while eating breakfast. If not for that I may have never picked up that Applesoft BASIC manual that shipped with our craptastic Apple ][gs By the next year i was wiring stuff into the joystick port on the motherboard. 10 years later i was at microsoft.

                          When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.

                          S Offline
                          S Offline
                          stoneyowl2
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #55

                          Was gainfully employed as a chemist and was exploring a new Inductively Coupled Argon Plasma Spectrometer we had just bought. Could not find any analysis tools for the PDP-11 running the dang thing, so I learned PDP-11 assembly and wrote my own. Then did the same for a Gas Chromatograph we were using for oilfield gas analysis.

                          A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, navigate a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects! - Lazarus Long

                          H 1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • S stoneyowl2

                            Was gainfully employed as a chemist and was exploring a new Inductively Coupled Argon Plasma Spectrometer we had just bought. Could not find any analysis tools for the PDP-11 running the dang thing, so I learned PDP-11 assembly and wrote my own. Then did the same for a Gas Chromatograph we were using for oilfield gas analysis.

                            A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, navigate a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects! - Lazarus Long

                            H Offline
                            H Offline
                            honey the codewitch
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #56

                            what a way to get started. into the fire as it were. I almost bought a crusty old PDP-11 but i didn't know where i'd keep it. These days, i could probably emulate one on a phone. :laugh:

                            When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.

                            S 1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • G glennPattonWork3

                              Well when I heard of it I was thinking a microcontroller could get rid of the discrete logic (and the joys of static/dynamic hazards due to propagation delay) but wasn't too sure if you wanted to go that route...

                              C Offline
                              C Offline
                              CodeWraith
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #57

                              The biggest problem at the moment is to find a PIC32 that still runs at 5V. I could run the CDP1802 at 3.6V, but then I would have to lower its clock frequency. I have had an underclocked 1802 for 40 years, now I want to overclock[^] it. I intend a smaller PIC to conrol the 1802's clock frequency and operating mode. It also must communicate with a small serial ROM and copy it's contents into memory after a reset. This way I can keep the ROM out of the Elf's memory map and still have something to boot from. With a PIC in control of the clock frequency, I can do almost everything, from single stepping instructions to full blast or overclocking.

                              I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats. His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.

                              G 1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • H honey the codewitch

                                i was 8 when reagan was in office. I liked to read while eating breakfast. If not for that I may have never picked up that Applesoft BASIC manual that shipped with our craptastic Apple ][gs By the next year i was wiring stuff into the joystick port on the motherboard. 10 years later i was at microsoft.

                                When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.

                                M Offline
                                M Offline
                                MarkTJohnson
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #58

                                I sucked rocks as an elementary school teacher. Was married and needed a new career. Luckily, programming and I were a good fit.

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • H honey the codewitch

                                  what a way to get started. into the fire as it were. I almost bought a crusty old PDP-11 but i didn't know where i'd keep it. These days, i could probably emulate one on a phone. :laugh:

                                  When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.

                                  S Offline
                                  S Offline
                                  stoneyowl2
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #59

                                  Quote:

                                  what a way to get started. into the fire as it were.

                                  Yep. Bear in mind that the argon plasma was created by passing argon gas through a coil of water cooled copper tubing energized by a 5KW RF generator. Never set anything on fire, but the generator frequency was very close to the middle of the CB Radio bands. If we ever forgot to close the faraday cage, we blew up every CB radio in town.

                                  A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, navigate a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects! - Lazarus Long

                                  H 1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • H honey the codewitch

                                    i was 8 when reagan was in office. I liked to read while eating breakfast. If not for that I may have never picked up that Applesoft BASIC manual that shipped with our craptastic Apple ][gs By the next year i was wiring stuff into the joystick port on the motherboard. 10 years later i was at microsoft.

                                    When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.

                                    B Offline
                                    B Offline
                                    BillW33
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #60

                                    I got to do some C programming in my first calculus class in college and found out that I enjoyed it. I picked up more programming skills on my own then decided to take some programming classes. Fun times :-D

                                    Just because the code works, it doesn't mean that it is good code.

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • Sander RosselS Sander Rossel

                                      Failed my last year of University* because I had been playing World of Warcraft too much. I still lived at home and my parents weren't pleased. They just sold their IT company to an uncle, an employee and a third that wasn't with the company until he bought it. My mom said "you're going to find a job or I'll do it for you, you can start there!" And I said "but I don't even know how to write code!" And then she gently whispered "THEN YOU'LL FUCKING LEARN! :mad::mad::mad:" And so I was hired because I was the son of old management and the nephew of new management and also because I had some affinity with computers, being a gamer and all. No one in this story regretted that decision. I liked programming and I learned it very quickly. I learned a lot, wrote some great software, introduced some new technology to the company, made them a lot of money (earned some myself as well), and then I moved on after four years :D Another five or so years later and here I am :D *I still finished that last year of University, earning me the title Master of Arts :D

                                      Best, Sander sanderrossel.com Continuous Integration, Delivery, and Deployment arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript Object-Oriented Programming in C# Succinctly

                                      N Offline
                                      N Offline
                                      NeverJustHere
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #61

                                      I was fortunate enough to convince my parents to get me a ZX Spectrum as a Christmas present in 84, when I was 13. In those days, you could buy magazines that contained BASIC print outs for games. I learnt to debug before learnt to program. You'd type in a program, run it and get some weird result - and have to try to figure out where I'd miskeyed something. I started being able to see how the bug could manifest itself given the code I'd entered - something I believe I'm better at than most programmers. From there it was a matter of modifying the programs, and mashing bits of them together into new ones.

                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • C CodeWraith

                                        The biggest problem at the moment is to find a PIC32 that still runs at 5V. I could run the CDP1802 at 3.6V, but then I would have to lower its clock frequency. I have had an underclocked 1802 for 40 years, now I want to overclock[^] it. I intend a smaller PIC to conrol the 1802's clock frequency and operating mode. It also must communicate with a small serial ROM and copy it's contents into memory after a reset. This way I can keep the ROM out of the Elf's memory map and still have something to boot from. With a PIC in control of the clock frequency, I can do almost everything, from single stepping instructions to full blast or overclocking.

                                        I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats. His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.

                                        G Offline
                                        G Offline
                                        glennPattonWork3
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #62

                                        Silly I know, but what about a potenial divider 5V to 3.6V, Vo = Vi *((R2)/(R1+R2)), Vo = 5*(3.3K /(3.3K+ 1.7)), Vo = 3.3v, I always go for slightly below max. There are some good level shifting IC's (Texas Instruments)...

                                        C 1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • H honey the codewitch

                                          i was 8 when reagan was in office. I liked to read while eating breakfast. If not for that I may have never picked up that Applesoft BASIC manual that shipped with our craptastic Apple ][gs By the next year i was wiring stuff into the joystick port on the motherboard. 10 years later i was at microsoft.

                                          When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.

                                          P Offline
                                          P Offline
                                          PIEBALDconsult
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #63

                                          Ah, 'twas the year 1983, and I decided to find out what all the hoo-rah was about. I had seen a classmate's BASIC code a few year's earlier and the idea that a few arcane incantations could actually tell a machine to do something interesting was totally baffling. But, once I was introduced to it and tried it, I found that I could do it like nobody's business. (BASIC-Plus on a PDP-11 running RSTS-E) Money for nothing, and the chicks for free.

                                          H 1 Reply Last reply
                                          0
                                          Reply
                                          • Reply as topic
                                          Log in to reply
                                          • Oldest to Newest
                                          • Newest to Oldest
                                          • Most Votes


                                          • Login

                                          • Don't have an account? Register

                                          • Login or register to search.
                                          • First post
                                            Last post
                                          0
                                          • Categories
                                          • Recent
                                          • Tags
                                          • Popular
                                          • World
                                          • Users
                                          • Groups