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.
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.
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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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Client-Side TypeScript without ASP.NET, Angular, etc.My high school had a PDP/8 with two terminals but no tape drive, just the punch tape. I learned BASIC on it my senior year 1977/78. I had a PET, 64, and Amiga.
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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.
For me it was the Vic-20 around 1980/81.
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
― Christopher Hitchens
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Oh, we used to dream of having 128K! :-D Speccy 48K for me, in the early 80s. (Once we'd been back to the store to get a box that wasn't empty, that is.) Combined with a set of Input Magazine[^]. (Ignore the publication years on that site; they were all 84-85.)
"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined." - Homer
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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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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
I was going to mention I'm of the C64 generation, but it seems like you and I have started on the same thing. Only, on Xmas 1984, I was 12. I guess it's not a generation thing. I can't make the same claim about the book however. Being a 12-year old French boy, it took me a lot longer to go through it.
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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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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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I was going to mention I'm of the C64 generation, but it seems like you and I have started on the same thing. Only, on Xmas 1984, I was 12. I guess it's not a generation thing. I can't make the same claim about the book however. Being a 12-year old French boy, it took me a lot longer to go through it.
I was 12 at 1984 just like you... My book was in Hungarian (I wasn't speaking about the books originally come with the C64 - they were gone when I got the machine, but about a book my father got with the machine)...
"The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary." Vidal Sassoon, 1928 - 2012
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I was 12 at 1984 just like you... My book was in Hungarian (I wasn't speaking about the books originally come with the C64 - they were gone when I got the machine, but about a book my father got with the machine)...
"The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary." Vidal Sassoon, 1928 - 2012
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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
It was about the time that I got the Extended BASIC cartridge that the cassette modem went out so no more saving...funny, it would load from it, just not write to it. I spent many a night playing the Scott Adams (not that guy) Adventure series games where the commands were 3 letter verb/noun combos like 'dri rum' or 'say yoh'. Fun times! :laugh: I still have mine in the original box...why I'm not even sure. :)
"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.
1971 university - IBM 360 Fortran IV on punch cards. I still remember the 026 and 029 card punches. Designing algorithms for the Universal Turing machine and using Facit machines to design number crunching programs. First time I got paid for a program was December 1971 as an assistant to a PhD candidate who needed some programs. Today, 48 years later, I am still earning my living writing programs. Gone through all the languages. Fortran, PL/1, Assembler, Cobol, Basic in numerous flavours, C, C#, php, CLipper with DBIV and probably a whole lot of others that I don't remeber. I am currently learning Python. It's been a wonderful journey and I wouldn't change it for anything.
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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.
1968, in final year of high school, I did a Fortran IV course at University of NSW (over university radio). Submitted coding sheets by mail which were punched, run and the printout returned. So one batch turn-around per week! 1969 I started uni and graduated in Computer Science after 4 years. Spent next 45 years 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.
DEC PDP-4e, Fortran on a console typewriter and paper tapes -- memories :-)
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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.
Fortran at school, cards sent to the Town Hall for processing but completely forgotten. Then at the end of the 80s a ZX81 with Basic which swiftly proved to be so limiting so I moved rapidly on to z80, 6809, 6510, 68000 and 8080 assembler (actually with z80 and 6809 it was initially pure hand written machine code). 2 games published on the Dragon and Commodore 64 together with sound and speech hardware addons.
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1975 on the 31st May I wrote my first program in City & Guilds Mnemonic Code assembly language. It was fed through a teletype on punched tape via an acoustic coupler to an ICL 1900 at Manchester University (about 50 miles away). It ran and produced the correct answer, first time! That's when I knew I had to give up my Law career and become a lumberjack computer programmer!
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
Haha Amazing for those days. Just wished that lumberjack wasn't struck through. I like the idea of a lumberjack computer programmer. Has a certain ring to it. Reckon that JSOP would agree, except he doesn't like high heels on blokes.
"Rock journalism is people who can't write interviewing people who can't talk for people who can't read." Frank Zappa 1980
