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Poll: How long have you been programming?

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Poll: How long have you been programming?

#21

Post by tlocke »

I 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 the text rather than assigned to the text. I suppose that was only possible when things like the GOTO statement didn't accept a line number.

I must have been about 11 when I started. Happy days!

Re: Poll: How long have you been programming?

#25

Post by pavanky »

This is a strange question to ask. I have known _how to program_ since I was in the 7th grade when we were taught ahem gbasic back in 1996. I have learn't C in my undergrad, taught myself a bit of python during the same period. Upto this point programming was recreational trying to solve trivial problems (I learnt python primarily to solve project euler problems).

It wasn't until I started my masters, 5 years ago, that I did any serious projects and 2 years ago that I did professional work.

So when people ask how long have you been programming for, what is it they are looking for ?

Re: Poll: How long have you been programming?

#26

Post by steve8918 »

After 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 program.

I basically had no real experience programming until I graduated. I took 2 programming courses in undergrad, one being an assembly language course, and I did a summer internship where I did some Matlab scripting to print out graphs. My 4th year project was using a DSP chip to write an FFT in assembly. So while unemployed I taught myself C++ programming, as well as IT administration and networking. My first job was as an IT guy, but I spent every night after work programming, writing utilities and digital audio filtering utilities using FFTs. Within 2 years, I got a job programming after lying on my interview about my previous job experience and I've been programming ever since.

Re: Poll: How long have you been programming?

#27

Post by drblast »

Started at age 7 on a C64. I learned binary before I could multiply because you needed to understand binary to create multi-colored sprites on the C64. I made a game where you drove a car and avoided things, then another where you drove a spaceship and avoided things, then another where you shot arrows at moving targets. That last game was the first one I wrote where the goal was to hit things, a major departure for me. Those were the days.

Despite the advances in tech, kids today who want to learn to program have it much harder.

Re: Poll: How long have you been programming?

#29

Post by andyjenn »

tlocke wrote: post #21

I 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!

Re: Poll: How long have you been programming?

#30

Post by ht_th »

I still remember the first "programs" I wrote in qbasic. I spend days writing a simple tic-tac-toe game using if-statments only. Or computer art by drawing shapes, lines, dots and what not on the screen using different loops. Then I discovered I could make it bleep funny also, ending in whole light shows with simulated lazer beams under a nice beat of beeping.

Later I got more serious and wrote programs to do my math homework for me. I found that I learned more about the math I was learning by writing these programs than by actually doing the homework myself. That's been one of the reasons to get into education to pursue the idea of using programming as a learning tool (as pioneered by, among others, Seymour Papert [logo] and later Andrea diSessa [boxer]).

When I started studying computer science my programming "career" started in earnest. From doing some shady braininess when the internet was young to writing scientific prototypes.

Ever since I started programming it has been part of my daily life. I often find myself automatic tasks in my personal and professional life and I would like everyone to be able to do the same. Time and time again I have been confronted with people that do not (want to) understand computers or their place in our (future) society and keep on serving the machine instead of having their machine serve them.

All and all, I've been programming machines for over 20 years, ever since my early teens.

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