First experience of programming
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So - we have done the age thing, so how about the experience thing? In 1960 I was given a Heathkit EC-1 in kit form by a rich relo. I built it, and then programmed it to solve very simply calculus problems, with the output sent to a Heathkit oscilloscope - it was an analog machine! Then there was an eight year gap until university, an IBM 1130 and Algol.
1964: accounting machine program punched on mylar tape. 1965: IBM 1800, assembler. Some Fortran.
If you can keep your head while those about you are losing theirs, perhaps you don't understand the situation.
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So - we have done the age thing, so how about the experience thing? In 1960 I was given a Heathkit EC-1 in kit form by a rich relo. I built it, and then programmed it to solve very simply calculus problems, with the output sent to a Heathkit oscilloscope - it was an analog machine! Then there was an eight year gap until university, an IBM 1130 and Algol.
I miss Heathkit. I built a variable voltage and current power supply from a kit that I used for years. 1974: My first programming experience was on a PDP/11, punchtape storage, teletype, BASIC, 64K RAM, and mag tape drive that if it drew too much current would crash the entire computer. 1977: Second was a couple HP calculators, the first being an HP-25 - Wikipedia[^] After highschool, I started programming on a Commodore PET. Onwards and upwards!
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So - we have done the age thing, so how about the experience thing? In 1960 I was given a Heathkit EC-1 in kit form by a rich relo. I built it, and then programmed it to solve very simply calculus problems, with the output sent to a Heathkit oscilloscope - it was an analog machine! Then there was an eight year gap until university, an IBM 1130 and Algol.
It was the day after I got my C64 (Hanukkah 1984)... I just finished the book came with it without sleeping...
"The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary." Vidal Sassoon, 1928 - 2012
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So - we have done the age thing, so how about the experience thing? In 1960 I was given a Heathkit EC-1 in kit form by a rich relo. I built it, and then programmed it to solve very simply calculus problems, with the output sent to a Heathkit oscilloscope - it was an analog machine! Then there was an eight year gap until university, an IBM 1130 and Algol.
It was Christmas of '82 or '83 (can't remember) and my parents bought my brothers and I a TI-99/4a. My brothers were only interested in the games, but I quickly discovered that it could do more. I learned enough BASIC to write small programs to solve my HS algebra and geometry homework. A few years later I went to uni as a CS major but quit when I got kicked out of the lab for refusing to yield a terminal to an upperclassman. 10 years later, tired of factory work, I went back and finished. I got my first programming job a year before I graduated and am still working here 20 years later. :)
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
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So - we have done the age thing, so how about the experience thing? In 1960 I was given a Heathkit EC-1 in kit form by a rich relo. I built it, and then programmed it to solve very simply calculus problems, with the output sent to a Heathkit oscilloscope - it was an analog machine! Then there was an eight year gap until university, an IBM 1130 and Algol.
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So - we have done the age thing, so how about the experience thing? In 1960 I was given a Heathkit EC-1 in kit form by a rich relo. I built it, and then programmed it to solve very simply calculus problems, with the output sent to a Heathkit oscilloscope - it was an analog machine! Then there was an eight year gap until university, an IBM 1130 and Algol.
Keying in instructions on the front panel of a LEO/III (see below) in 1966, and then moving to creating self loading programs on paper tape. Worked on various different systems and languages in the intervening years. Leo Computers Society. Leo 3 photos[^]. I worked on III/6 (i.e the sixth system off the factory), the first four photos on the second row.
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So - we have done the age thing, so how about the experience thing? In 1960 I was given a Heathkit EC-1 in kit form by a rich relo. I built it, and then programmed it to solve very simply calculus problems, with the output sent to a Heathkit oscilloscope - it was an analog machine! Then there was an eight year gap until university, an IBM 1130 and Algol.
Depends. First program was written for the HP-67 on magnetic strip to run analysis of gas chromatography data. Second was PDP-11 assembly to analyse data from Inductively Coupled Argon Plasma Spectrophotomer for elemental 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
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So - we have done the age thing, so how about the experience thing? In 1960 I was given a Heathkit EC-1 in kit form by a rich relo. I built it, and then programmed it to solve very simply calculus problems, with the output sent to a Heathkit oscilloscope - it was an analog machine! Then there was an eight year gap until university, an IBM 1130 and Algol.
1964. First year science at Monash Uni. Punch FORTRAN II cards on an IBM 026, submit to the CDC 3200. The next year we did all sorts of devious things, based on fixed load locations and lack of array bounds checking.
Software rusts. Simon Stephenson, ca 1994. So does this signature. me, 2012
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So - we have done the age thing, so how about the experience thing? In 1960 I was given a Heathkit EC-1 in kit form by a rich relo. I built it, and then programmed it to solve very simply calculus problems, with the output sent to a Heathkit oscilloscope - it was an analog machine! Then there was an eight year gap until university, an IBM 1130 and Algol.
Early 1983. First year of engineering. FORTRAN on a Multics system. Judging from those first attempts I should not be doing it now. But I am! That was the first year that they removed the punch card machines with terminals. Dodged that bullet!
I, for one, like Roman Numerals.
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So - we have done the age thing, so how about the experience thing? In 1960 I was given a Heathkit EC-1 in kit form by a rich relo. I built it, and then programmed it to solve very simply calculus problems, with the output sent to a Heathkit oscilloscope - it was an analog machine! Then there was an eight year gap until university, an IBM 1130 and Algol.
Do those turtle things that run around the floor count? If not, then I think 2000. Some Turbo C++ thing in which I wrote the biggest switch statement of my life... you enter an album track number, and it prints out the lyrics for that song. The album was Slipknot (self-entitled).
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So - we have done the age thing, so how about the experience thing? In 1960 I was given a Heathkit EC-1 in kit form by a rich relo. I built it, and then programmed it to solve very simply calculus problems, with the output sent to a Heathkit oscilloscope - it was an analog machine! Then there was an eight year gap until university, an IBM 1130 and Algol.
1983, high school, PDP-11, RSTS-E, BASIC-Plus. VT100 and similar termini, no freaking punch cards.
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So - we have done the age thing, so how about the experience thing? In 1960 I was given a Heathkit EC-1 in kit form by a rich relo. I built it, and then programmed it to solve very simply calculus problems, with the output sent to a Heathkit oscilloscope - it was an analog machine! Then there was an eight year gap until university, an IBM 1130 and Algol.
1974-5 (or thereabout) on the mainframe of the Weizmann Institute. Punched cards, batch processing, FORTRAN IV, 1-2 hours between submitting the card deck and receiving the output. Need I say more?
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.
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So - we have done the age thing, so how about the experience thing? In 1960 I was given a Heathkit EC-1 in kit form by a rich relo. I built it, and then programmed it to solve very simply calculus problems, with the output sent to a Heathkit oscilloscope - it was an analog machine! Then there was an eight year gap until university, an IBM 1130 and Algol.
1984 I took my first programming class, BASIC. I absolutely hated it, the immediate spaghettification of any 'code' I wrote was very off putting, unreadable and near impossible to debug. I mostly blame the instructor for condoning poor coding practices. My next class was FORTRAN 77, and the opposite happened, I loved it. Since I was in the EE program, I didn't concentrate on programming in school. Only once I started working did I need to know assembler, c, c++.
"the debugger doesn't tell me anything because this code compiles just fine" - random QA comment "Facebook is where you tell lies to your friends. Twitter is where you tell the truth to strangers." - chriselst "I don't drink any more... then again, I don't drink any less." - Mike Mullikins uncle
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My first experience was a programming class on AppleII probably in the early 80s (1982-ishy ?? ) I remember the class room, it was a bright room, everything smelled new. And also on Sinclair zx80 at school (but again, I don't remember much).
I'd rather be phishing!
My first experience was with time-shared BASIC on an HP3000 in the mid-1970s. I remember the instructor being blown away that I made a cypher encoder/decoder program.
"They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers! Can I get an amen?"
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So - we have done the age thing, so how about the experience thing? In 1960 I was given a Heathkit EC-1 in kit form by a rich relo. I built it, and then programmed it to solve very simply calculus problems, with the output sent to a Heathkit oscilloscope - it was an analog machine! Then there was an eight year gap until university, an IBM 1130 and Algol.
My first experience was with time-shared BASIC on an HP3000 in the mid-1970s. I remember the instructor being blown away that I made a cypher encoder/decoder program.
"They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers! Can I get an amen?"
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So - we have done the age thing, so how about the experience thing? In 1960 I was given a Heathkit EC-1 in kit form by a rich relo. I built it, and then programmed it to solve very simply calculus problems, with the output sent to a Heathkit oscilloscope - it was an analog machine! Then there was an eight year gap until university, an IBM 1130 and Algol.
What's with all the "pissing contests" of late? Everyone here has been there, done that, and bought the t-shirt. :rolleyes:
"One man's wage rise is another man's price increase." - Harold Wilson
"Fireproof doesn't mean the fire will never come. It means when the fire comes that you will be able to withstand it." - Michael Simmons
"You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him." - James D. Miles
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It was Christmas of '82 or '83 (can't remember) and my parents bought my brothers and I a TI-99/4a. My brothers were only interested in the games, but I quickly discovered that it could do more. I learned enough BASIC to write small programs to solve my HS algebra and geometry homework. A few years later I went to uni as a CS major but quit when I got kicked out of the lab for refusing to yield a terminal to an upperclassman. 10 years later, tired of factory work, I went back and finished. I got my first programming job a year before I graduated and am still working here 20 years later. :)
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
The TI 99/4A was also my first computer. I taught myself BASIC and Extended BASIC. Then I moved on to Assembler. That got me hooked on programming. I even remember the interesting quirk of the graphics abilities on that computer. Each row was divided into blocks of 8 pixels which could have only 2 colors. I still have that computer somewhere in the basement.
Kelly Herald Software Developer
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So - we have done the age thing, so how about the experience thing? In 1960 I was given a Heathkit EC-1 in kit form by a rich relo. I built it, and then programmed it to solve very simply calculus problems, with the output sent to a Heathkit oscilloscope - it was an analog machine! Then there was an eight year gap until university, an IBM 1130 and Algol.
Commodore 16, something like 10 PRINT "HELLO WORLD" 20 GOTO 10 Then bits of BBC Basic at School....:cool:
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So - we have done the age thing, so how about the experience thing? In 1960 I was given a Heathkit EC-1 in kit form by a rich relo. I built it, and then programmed it to solve very simply calculus problems, with the output sent to a Heathkit oscilloscope - it was an analog machine! Then there was an eight year gap until university, an IBM 1130 and Algol.
Besides making a TI-994a say naughty things in an endless basic loop, my first real programming experience was on a pdp-11/23 running SCO unix, a cc compiler and the K&R book. That was in the late 70s if I recall. vi was the editor. Better than edlin though.
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So - we have done the age thing, so how about the experience thing? In 1960 I was given a Heathkit EC-1 in kit form by a rich relo. I built it, and then programmed it to solve very simply calculus problems, with the output sent to a Heathkit oscilloscope - it was an analog machine! Then there was an eight year gap until university, an IBM 1130 and Algol.
TRS-80 Basic with the tape recorder in a gifted class, 1982.
