SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
With the recent brouhaha about vulnerabilities in many relatively recent processors, I got to thinking back to the time when I first started programming. Back then, things seemed so much simpler and much more straightforward.
To start off the new year, I thought it might be interesting to find out how people got their start in programming.
My first exposure to programming was by means of a Teletype over a dialup line using an acoustical coupler to a PDP-8 computer running TSS/8 and which had 24 KB of RAM. At the time, Star Trek ToS was on the air, and I thought this was the new, big thing. I was quickly disappointed by it not measuring up to anything like what I saw on TV, but I saw it had promise. Started with BASIC (and FOCAL). Later on was exposed to a PDP-11 running RSTS/E and programmed in BASIC+ as well as some Pascal.
As for owning a computer, the first one I bought was an OSI[*] Challenger 4P with a whopping 4KB of RAM!
From those humble beginnings, I ate up everything I could lay my hands on and later worked for a wide variety of companies that ranged in size from major internationals to tiny startups. Even had a hand in a project for Formula 1!
So, my fellow Soylentils, how did you get started programming? Where has it taken you?
[*] One day when my girlfriend came over and saw the OSI logo on my computer her eyes got huge! You see, The Six Million Dollar Man was on television at that time, and she suddenly suspected I was connected to the "Office of Scientific Intelligence"!
(Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Thursday January 04 2018, @10:09PM (2 children)
I started by quizzing a 10th grade classmate, probably one of 5 kids in a school of 1000 who knew more than absolutely nothing. I'd ask him what he knew about BASIC, syntax to make it do arithmetic operations, etc. Then, I'd loiter in Radio Shacks around town and try out what he told me, extend, experiment, etc. I bought a couple of magazines like BYTE and learned more.
That lasted about 2 months before I finally broke the piggy bank and spent my entire life savings on an Atari 800 with 16K of RAM, a BASIC cartridge, Star Raiders, and a joystick. I had to save up to get the cassette player later, and it took years to save enough for an 88K floppy drive.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Friday January 05 2018, @07:16PM (1 child)
Star raiders was a neat game.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday January 05 2018, @07:39PM
Awesome for its day.
🌻🌻 [google.com]