I am not a professional programmer, but do it for fun and to avoid repetitive or boring work at home (backups, updates etc.). I got my first computer when I was about 6 or 7 (1985 IIRC), an Atari 800XL with tape recorder (about the size of a toaster). It was awesome when I found out how to get into the running interpreter, change a BASIC program and restart it! So my first 'coding' was to change the number of bullets or lives in the running game. Or insert silly texts printed to the screen; maybe it's good I didn't become a professional :D
I am a slow learner, slow thinker, bad at math - and I guess I couldn't earn a cent with it. But I still enjoy writing my little programs after all those years.
Poll: How long have you been programming?
81–90 of 329 posts
Re: Poll: How long have you been programming?
#821980: BASIC, 1983: Z-80, 6502 asm, 1984: COBOL, mainframe "Assembler" language, Pascal, Forth, 1985: Fortran, 1987 : C ... then, C++ and a variety of other languages followed.
My computer progression: TRS-80 pocket computer, TRS-80 model I, Commodore 64, Commodore 128, Commodore +4, Amiga, Vic-20, and then the long list of Intel 80x86 machines and phone/tablet gadgets.
Re: Poll: How long have you been programming?
#83Does HTML count as programming in this case? I started when I was 11 and didn't do anything more complicated than some very basic JS until I was 14.
Re: Poll: How long have you been programming?
#84VIC-20, MicroBee, ZX-81, C64, Amiga
An 8K Microbee was the first computer we owned at home, the ability to incorporate machine code with basic was a great feature of these computers, got me my start to really understanding computers.
EDIT: oops seems it must have been a 16K model.
Re: Poll: How long have you been programming?
#85After graduating from electrical engineering, I figured out that if I wanted to go into electronics, I would need to spend a lot of money on equipment just so I could practice at home, but I was broke. However, my computer at the time was pretty top notch (486DX 50MHz, 16 MB RAM). I felt that my computer was probably the same caliber as the ones that real programmers were using, so it made more sense to learn how to…
I find it pretty funny that _after_ you graduated (and according to the hardware you had at the time) you decided to completely change careers :)
Re: Poll: How long have you been programming?
#86I started programming aged 6, in BASIC on an Acorn Electron, back in 1986. That means I've been hacking for fun and profit for over 25 years now. Can't imagine life without code, despite doing less and less of it for profit as time goes by.
Re: Poll: How long have you been programming?
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
But they still need to find the information that there are such super simple options. Google "programming tutorial beginner" and the first thing is about C++. Ask in a forum and you will start a long discussion about which language to learn first. There is an incredible amount of information and tools that would allow to start very easy (and without having to pay anything for tools or books), but without somebody exp…
OK, but if you wanted to program a VIC-20, you were literally POKEing 6502 opcodes as hex numbers into memory addresses - the development tool VICMON cost extra, and even then you still had to know the mnemonics. And people of my generation still did it. And kids today have everything handed to them on a plate, they just aren't interested.
Adoption has increased, but the web is also far more interesting than playing another text based adventure game. So, I think the percentage of total people has stayed about the same. It's only the percentage of people with access to a computer who learn to program that's changed. Because, the further back you go the fewer things there where to do with a computer other than learn to program.
Re: Poll: How long have you been programming?
#88I started programming on the BBC model B. You had to number each line by hand. The convention was to write the line numbers in steps of 10. Then as you went back and added lines, you'd run out of gaps to fit your lines in. Then you had to use the RENUMBER command and all the lines would be renumbered in steps of 10 again. It was a great breakthrough to me when it was realized that line numbers could be derived from t…
I remember the "Wow!", when I discovered the AUTO command!
And learning how to use the copy and delete keys to make modifications to existing code without having to retype the whole line.
Re: Poll: How long have you been programming?
#89LOGO and VIC-20 basic. So close but not quite 30+.
Re: Poll: How long have you been programming?
#90My first code was written on a TRS-80 at my jr. highschool. The first work I did that had a wider audience was done at Sears on a Tandy Color Computer it went something like this:
10 Print "Sears Sucks"
20 GOTO 10
The first computer my family owned was a Commodore Vic-20 and I typed in plenty of proggies out of magazines. They were stored on cassette tapes and we bought a modem - then a phone because we needed to be able to disconnect the hand piece once we'd connected to a bbs and plug the cord into the modem. All our phones were slimline and disconnecting those dropped the call.
The 80s were a really fun time to be a geek.