Why did you learn to program?

[VH-BIL]

I started programming when I was 12 on a TRS80 because I was given it with no software. Every time it was turned off I had to make a new game or something.

I then got into C64 BASIC and machine coding it. On the Amiga I wrote Amiga BASIC, AMOS, BLITZ, Lattice C, but mainly assembly code.

On PC I have used many BASIC languages (I dont like the structure of BASIC, it is messy), Borland C++ for many years, Pearl, PHP, Java, Javascript, etc but now I use C# for work.

What is your story?

[RiceMonster]

I took a programming class in highschool inwhich we used an educational language called Turing. I enjoyed it, so I decided to take it in college as well.

I know:
PHP
Javascript
Java
VB.NET
Perl
C/C++
COBOL (Yes, I know COBOL, unfortunatley)

[smellyman]

TRIED to learn to program many times. courses, self teaching etc. for job development.

still suck at it. :)

[endotherm]

in College I was trying to study network engineering, and everyone had to take some classes on flowcharting and basic Assembler. I found that I liked it, and that the more network and server admin based courses were not as satisfying. its all just stuff i could learn from a CCNA or MCSE study guide. as the certs I had at the time were all self-study, it didn't make sense to pay someone to teach me those topics, but I needed a degree...

[wojox]

Boardom. Taught myself C and advanced from there.

[endotherm]

COBOL (Yes, I know COBOL, unfortunatley)
we had to take 4 quarters of COBOL. I joined my degree program just before they modernized the requirements. there are several big IT employers in my burg that at the time used large mainframes, primarily running COBOL apps, so those skills remained pertinent long after they should have passed into obsolescense.

[VH-BIL]

I heard a lot of COBAL programmers where making nice money for Y2K fixes.

[samalex]

I started programming when I was 12 on a TRS80 because I was given it with no software. Every time it was turned off I had to make a new game or something.

Honestly my coding started pretty much exactly as you... I got my first computer, a Tandy TRS-80 Color Computer 2, when I was about 11 or 12, and being used the prior owner sold with it many years worth of Rainbow Magazine. I spent HOURS typing in code and writing my own applications.

Then when I moved into the world of MS-DOS with my first 8088-XT around 1990 I picked-up GW-Basic and Turbo Pascal. Through high school I also took ZBasic and Pascal on the Mac and started going to local programming competitions.

When I got into college in 1996 I picked-up Turbo C++ and started working with some web development learning the in's and out's of HTML and Perl, then moved to PHP. I also ventured into the Microsoft realm with Visual Basic, Visual C++, and ASP, but neither really grabbed me.

By 2000 I was doing web development full time with PHP and ColdFusion, and about 3 years ago moved to a company where I could move more into the DotNet arena. Now's though I've settled more into the DBA seat though I'm picking-up VB and C# through CLR and SSIS programming through MS SQL Server. I still do some PHP work on the side through some custom apps plus tweaking WordPress, phpBB, and MediaWiki with our LUG and a few other sites I maintain, but on the side I want to get back into web development.

Software development is a fun hobby and profession...

Sam

[VH-BIL]

Honestly my coding started pretty much exactly as you... I got my first computer, a Tandy TRS-80

Wow you started on the same computer, Tandy TRS-80! That is awesome :)

[Simian Man]

In high school math classes we used programmable TI calculators, and our books had little TI-Basic programs in them. I learned from these and experimented. I wrote a ton of games, math programs, chat programs and so on.

Then in college I was a computer science major and haven't looked back. I have used more languages than is worth writing, but for my work I mainly use C, assembly and verilog. For fun I like C#, Python and Objective Caml.

[lukeiamyourfather]

I learned Python to improve my work in an unrelated field.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3793987/

:popcorn:

[mendhak]

I was in Syria at the time, they started teaching us at the age of 6. It sort of 'clicked' and it's stuck ever since.

What surprised me later was when I found out that not all schools start teaching you at the age of 6.

Just this weird one in Syria. SYRIA. :confused:

[samalex]

Wow you started on the same computer, Tandy TRS-80! That is awesome :)

Yup :) I still have both my Tandy TRS-80 CoCo 2 and 3, and both work great -- or did last time I used them. What's crazy is there's still lots of people into developing new stuff for the TRS-80 series. Check this out - http://www.cloud9tech.com/ - this guy has IDE and VGA add-ons plus there's an open source OS called NitrOS-9 (http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/nitros9/index.php?title=Main_Page) that replaces OS-9. If they ever get their SuperBoard going I'll probably get one (adds Networking and TONS of other bells/whistle), but it's been in works for literally 6+ years now so who knows if it'll ever be released.

Neat stuff ---

Sam

[Eisenwinter]

What originally got me into coding was sitting on IRC and seeing other people's cool scripts at work.

So, I wanted to be able to write those scripts as well. Learned the mIRC scripting language, a language I no longer actively use.

After mIRC scripting, came Perl. Perl kinda came along naturally as I started using Linux about 3 years ago.

Right now, I have started digging deep into C++. I wish to know a language like that as well.

[VH-BIL]

Yup :) I still have both my Tandy TRS-80 CoCo 2 and 3, and both work great -- or did last time I used them. What's crazy is there's still lots of people into developing new stuff for the TRS-80 series. Check this out - http://www.cloud9tech.com/ - this guy has IDE and VGA add-ons plus there's an open source OS called NitrOS-9 (http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/nitros9/index.php?title=Main_Page) that replaces OS-9. If they ever get their SuperBoard going I'll probably get one (adds Networking and TONS of other bells/whistle), but it's been in works for literally 6+ years now so who knows if it'll ever be released.

Neat stuff ---

Sam

I just checked it out, there is some cool stuff there. I do not have my TRS80 anymore, I wonder if there is an emulator...

[theraje]

TRS-80 is awesome! :) Even was a factor in getting a Tandy-1000 when it came out (wow, was THAT expensive!).

I started "programming" in '87, when I was about seven years old, and I found out that you could fix broken BASIC games by changing their code. I didn't know wtf I was doing, but I managed to fix a lot of games that otherwise didn't work. That was on the Tandy-1000.

I later got a Commodore 64, and tried typing in BASIC commands, just for fun. Imagine my surprise when it understood what I was typing!

So, that basically got me started. I never had access to programming books, so I kind of let my hobby die (though I occasionally found some iffy code disks in shareware mail-order catalogs in years to come) until 1998, when I got to take a Visual Basic 6.0 course in college. I went crazy with it. I was #1 in my programming classes (I even tutored the other guys and gals in class), and just kept doing it.

But mostly I do it because it's fun making computer games. :)

[robsoles]

My Dad bought himself a VZ200 when I was eleven. By the time I was twelve it was mine and Dad wouldn't buy me anything but books for it. I quickly mastered BASIC and soon dabbled in Z80 assembler. By the time I was proficient in Z80 M/L (or asm as we call it today) someone managed to make it apparent to me that Z80 would die out and I dropped it about age fifteen (am forty as I type this), I tried looking into C but it gave me the s**ts at the time and I wouldn't pursue it.

(Gave me even bigger case of irrits to become aware that Z80 assembler far from died out!!!)

I made a bunch of games, three of which I decided were good enough for public consumption and give them away as "Free BASIC Games (http://www.robsfreespace.com/software/free-basic-games/)", but I haven't completed a game project since 2003 to be quite frank.

I landed in a position to need to know PHP fairly well and have since decided (:)) that C isn't so bad after all - since 2003 it isn't that I haven't written anything, more that a couple of majorish packages [not for public release] in BASIC (VB6) and a bunch of mods/fixes in PHP for one company I worked for a while back and some C programs for Atmel 'atmega' devices for my current employer has sated my desire to "make stuff happen" like that for the last while.

Every so often lately I delve a little deeper into how I can crack it to program for Linux desktops using C but if someone presses me for something intense in a hurry I will probably resort to VB6 again right now - pleasingly enough (only tested one, assuming one of other two definitely will, and last of three probably will) my old VB6 games run in WINE!

[murderslastcrow]

To make and sell a videogame, just to show I could, since it was my childhood dream. It worked out pretty well, even though that money's already gone. Guess I'll have to do something even better next time around, but it's nice to have fulfilled your childhood dreams by my age. And back then I thought it was a totally ridiculous goal (back when the GameBoy was first coming out).

[Khakilang]

During the DOS days I try to learn Basic which come together with MS DOS called GwBasic. But stuck and the explanation from the book is not adequate enough and so I give up. Since there is so many good software around so I don't bother to learn or create one. But maybe one of this days....

[VH-BIL]

To make and sell a videogame, just to show I could, since it was my childhood dream. It worked out pretty well, even though that money's already gone. Guess I'll have to do something even better next time around, but it's nice to have fulfilled your childhood dreams by my age. And back then I thought it was a totally ridiculous goal (back when the GameBoy was first coming out).

What was the name of the video game?

[robsoles]

What was the name of the video game?

Seconded. Where can I pirate it to have a look-see?

[theraje]

Inquiring minds wish to know. :D

BTW, robsoles - My history has a lot in common with yours (especially the VB6 stuff, and not completing one of my own projects since 2003). Didn't like C much, but after playing with Java for a couple years, it started to click a little more. Of course, my primary focus was technically on C++ - and not C - but I am learning C at the moment for a couple projects I have going.

Here's to future finished C projects. :)

[Sporkman]

Wow you started on the same computer, Tandy TRS-80! That is awesome :)

Me three - first one of their little "pocket computers", then on to the Model IV.

[Sporkman]

But mostly I do it because it's fun making computer games. :)

Computer games (especially back in the 80s when they were simpler) were a big "gateway" into the programming world.

I started programming after being inspired by the movie "Wargames" to write regular & AI-driven games.

[wkhasintha]

why did you learn to ride a bicycle ? :p

[bouncingwilf]

Necessity is the simple answer - as a frustrated scientist that understood what the problem was but was unable to get the requirements across to the company "Programmers". I Started in the late 60's in Algol on an Elliot 803? with a staggering 8k of ferrite core (that was to get some decent least squares fits on first order reaction rates) Via an IBM mainframe in the 70's - that was Fortran - still the best mathematical language in my opinion I even wrote some fast hashed databases in it - course it was numbers only - text is for wimps!. Then onwards and upwards (cough!) via C ( mainly mixed language with the Fortran) and the usual dalliances with various flavours of Basic, Pascal, Cobol C++ etc and the odd excursion into assembler& machine code.

Nowadays, the little coding I do ( just for home jobs) is usually in C but I may play with Python because it's rumoured to be "easy" and can be spot optimsed for anything that needs to be fast by coding routines in C.

[robsoles]

...

Here's to future finished C projects. :)

Much as it may mean more research on my part, hear hear!!

[cpmman]

Programmers for Cobol and Fortran on ICL (ICT) 1900 series machines were thin on the ground in 1965 so the absolutely brilliant head of IT (Ken Wingfield) taught a few of us the basics to be able to access our own databases leaving the proggies to maintain/improve them. Punched cards (with desk top hex punches) and punched tape with an 'interpreter' to print on the top of the cards what was on them - happy daze(sic).

[donkyhotay]

I started by accidently learning how to view the source code of the programs on my C64. I read through it wanting to know what it was and eventually through some trial and error I started figuring things out for myself. I continued using variants of basic up through win95 at which point I started using C++ and then moved to python because I'm lazy and python is easier. I remember writing a "final fantasy" clone that would create a randomly generated world every time you started a "new" game (though of course you could save) written entirely in Qbasic. sadly I don't have any copies of it anymore. My current project (http://code.google/com/p/tether) is a open source remake of Moonbase Commander (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonbase_Commander) which is one of my favorite games of all time.

[CoffeeCoder]

Somewhere in 2007, I got interested in game development and did a Google search on "game making software". It took me to DarkBASIC, a Windows-only game development tool that uses its own dialect of BASIC. It taught me the fundamentals of programming, and while I discovered my brain isn't geared for programming, it was still a fun little hobby. :)

I tried to advance to C++. It didn't work out, so I started learning web development and markup languages. That's proven to be a lot more fun than game development ever was for me, and faster too!

But I guess the reason I learned to program was because I just interested in the process, and wanted a new skill. :P

[Zoot7]

A module in C was part of my degree.

[Zorgoth]

Cause I was a bored nerd.

In theory I started with BASIC, but that was for like a month and not very much and I didn't really learn anything. I don't even remember anything about BASIC anymore. I really took off with C++. And now Matlab is teaching me the art of doing everything I can do in C++ in one tenth of the lines at one tenth of the speed. When I'm out of the company I'll probably switch to octave or something for that kind of stuff. And maybe I'll learn Python.

[robsoles]

A module in C was part of my degree.

Aye, and a poet you are now too! (Soz, pretty drunk and couldn't resist - promise I am going to bed now!)

[giddyup306]

I started learning HTML when I was in high school. Then after getting a degree in a field that I didn't like, I decided to try writing code. My first classes were in C++, and then went to Java. I decided that I don't want to fix a program at 3AM on call because it blew up... Programmers also have one of the highest alcohol dependencies, divorce rates, and suicide rates out of any profession.

Now I do it "just for fun" like Linus Torvalds did when he wrote Linux. I used to like C, but I'm starting to get into Java because I want to write a program that I started a few years, and Java would make it a lot easier to put a GUI interface on it. It's just a simple automotive calculator, but Java has always been confusing to me, and I write a bunch of code only to find out a better way to do it. So I end up rewriting a lot of my stuff. I put it on hiatus for now...

[Frak]

I read textbooks for fun anyways, so I started reading 1000+ page books. Haven't taken any formal classes, but I've won a few competitions, so I feel good.

[JDShu]

I love to create things, and my childhood answer to when people asked me what job I wanted when I grew up was "something creative"

But I have no artistic, musical, or language talent, so the next option was programming.

[cprofitt]

I learned to program in TI-Basic on a TI-99/4 I later learned Apple Basic, Visual Basic.Net, and C# I am now working on Python, Erlang and C

[Zoot7]

Aye, and a poet you are now too! (Soz, pretty drunk and couldn't resist - promise I am going to bed now!)
Didn't notice that at all, anyway you do that. ;)

[Spr0k3t]

I learned out of necessity. There were features in the operating system I felt could have been done better. So I learned arexx. Later got into other scripting based languages and eventually compiled. I didn't touch object oriented programming until later when Java 1.1 was introduced. The rest is history.

[Windows Nerd]

TRIED to learn to program many times. courses, self teaching etc. for job development.

still suck at it. :)

Hey, same here!

[Frak]

Well, I thought about making some simple lead-ins to OOP on my blog. There may be some useful stuff there eventually.

[VH-BIL]

I am now learning MoonLight (SilverLight) to create a chat client for a domain I own chat43.com (Chat For Free). It will be a free dating / chat site. I already have a good client server component I have created (details here). (http://www.mpshouse.com/dotnetcomponents/clientservercomponent).

I just need to know the best place to host it. I have been using Hosting24 but I don't think they host mono or .net

[robsoles]

I am now learning MoonLight (SilverLight) to create a chat client for a domain I own chat43.com (http://chat43.com) (Chat For Free). It will be a free dating / chat site. I already have a good client server component I have created (details here). (http://www.mpshouse.com/dotnetcomponents/clientservercomponent).

I just need to know the best place to host it. I have been using Hosting24 but I don't think they host mono or .net

Maybe you could use a hosted VM for your purpose. By using something like Web24's services (www.web24.com.au) you could set up your own .net or mono server implementation - they probably have a few 'goes out of the box' setups you could choose from.

[Spice Weasel]

My first language was HTML, for the pure and simple reason of being able to make my own website. It took about a week to learn.

Programming is easy, it just takes practice. At the moment, I'm learning Java but will soon try out Python.

[theraje]

My first language was HTML

HTML is not a programming language. It's a markup language. ;)

[VH-BIL]

My first language was HTML, for the pure and simple reason of being able to make my own website. It took about a week to learn.

Programming is easy, it just takes practice. At the moment, I'm learning Java but will soon try out Python.

Java or javascript?

Java is a good language! You can write desktop applciations, web applets, applicaitons for Android phones, and I think Blackberry uses java as well.

[insane_alien]

I learned to program simply because i found myself having to to do a lot of tedious and repetitive calculations.

so i learned the magic of scripting.

then that evolved into ever more efficient and intricate solutions.

the most recent mindnumbing taks i turned my programming skills to was psychrometric chart generation. i happened to need a couple at non-standard temperatures and pressures for non-standard chemicals.

i did find one company that sold them for the conditions i needed but it was $120 so i thought 'screw that' and made a little program.

now this little program is not limited to just one set of conditions, it can generate the appropriate chart for ANY given set of conditions for any materials it has the properties for (trivial to add new materials).

at the moment it is currently implemented in excel and vba (horrible i know, but i needed to use it at work).

i'm converting it to python however and when it's done i'm going to open source it since the only psychrometric chart generation programs i've seen cost what seems a ridiculous amount of money for something so simple you can make the generation code in 20minutes(and i'm an amateur programmer). the data entry and making the chart nice and readable can take a few days though. its tough to get right.

[alexfish]

First home computer was BBC acorn, but main interest was to use computer to control the ports digitally for electronics and stepper motors etc. so had to use assembly code ,this was easy with the BBC as the BBBC basic language had an inline assembler

on windows PC platform only used Visual basic with hacks to use the ports

Linux platforms script,qt python { monkey python, Boa Constructor }

one of my favourites on Ubuntu is Gambas {based on qt}similar to visual basic as it makes for rapid development of the program as it is easy to accesses the system by calls such as bash,for passing scripts,or commands also makes for easy debugging of the linux system.
Ideal for a beginner not wanting to take up other languages as a career such as what I am reading above me {purists should not mock the use of this programming language it is a very powerful implementation of QT}

[Frak]

Just want to put it out there, Mono is now supported on the Android through MonoDroid. I think C#/.NET is an amazing language/toolkit to learn. It's amazingly flexible without having the "tie your hands behind your back" mentality of Java.

[schauerlich]

I guess technically the first thing I ever did was about 10 lines of TI-BASIC. At the end of the year after AP exams, my teacher decided he was going to teach the class how to do simple programming on the calculators. I didn't really understand anything that was going on and just sort of went with it.

The next summer, I was supremely bored and thought that since I spent so much time on the computer anyways, I should go whole-hog and become one of those 1337 haxors I kept hearing about. So I started learning python, didn't get all that far, and left it alone for a while. I came back to it later and learned a bit more, but not really enough to get much done.

I went into college as a CS major, not really knowing what to expect. My first class was in C, and the next in C++. It seemed to be something I was good at. That really piqued my interest, and I've since gone back and solidified my python skills, as well as started to learn Objective-C, Common Lisp and a bit of Scheme (enough to get through SICP).

[WinterMadness]

I was on AOL at the time downloading a bunch of "proggies" which were programs meant to kick people off line, lag the chat room, terminate accounts etc and a e-friend i had at the time introduced me to visual basic 3 (lol) and gave me Hiwind.bas so i can make my own. he got me going, did the vb thing for a while and then took classes on c++ and java

[WinterMadness]

HTML is not a programming language. It's a markup language. ;)

QFT i get really annoyed when people think html is programming

[VH-BIL]

Just want to put it out there, Mono is now supported on the Android through MonoDroid. I think C#/.NET is an amazing language/toolkit to learn. It's amazingly flexible without having the "tie your hands behind your back" mentality of Java.

I agree, I switched from C++ to C# a long time ago now and have not looked back!

What Novell is doing with mono is absolutely amazing and now with iPhone and Andoid, porting software is a breeze! It is just a shame the toolkits are not opensource. I am not complaining because as of monodevelop 2.4 and mono 2.6 (the directhex ppa) I now code completely in Linux free of Visual Studio!

[Spice Weasel]

QFT i get really annoyed when people think html is programming

I never said it was a programming language. I said 'language'.


Java or javascript?

Java is a good language! You can write desktop applciations, web applets, applicaitons for Android phones, and I think Blackberry uses java as well.

Java java. I agree, the multi platform ability (especially on mobile devices) is great.

[occams_beard]

For fun and profit, why else?

[lisati]

I started circa 1977. At the time my school's senior class had an option to learn Fortran, using portapunch cards (a variant of punched cards) that were sent via one of the local banks to a data processing centre. The following year, when I was in the senior class myself, the school had purchased a Wang 2200, which I learned to program in its version of BASIC. The school also had a HP25 programmable calculator that used reverse polish notation. This was in the days before the x86-based PC, TRS-80, and other stuff.

Several years later I purchased a VZ300, a reworked version of the VZ200 mentioned earlier in this thread. After fiddling round with its assembler, I discovered that its ROM bore an uncanny resemblance to that of the TRS-80, but it had been modified to allow for some differences in the hardware. Some stuff, like "ON ERROR", "ON .... GOTO" and similar had been disabled, but the code was still in the ROM. It wasn't too hard to adapt a listing in a magazine that extended the TRS-80 Basic to re-enable the "missing" stuff but some of it was apt to look a bit weird on the screen.

Ooops I'm ranting......

[aysiu]

I didn't.

I've been using Linux for five years, and I still can't program.

And yet every now and then some frustrated migrant from Windows will post in the Ubuntu Testimonial and Experiences subforum about how you have to be a programmer to use Linux.

[Frak]

I didn't.

I've been using Linux for five years, and I still can't program.

And yet every now and then some frustrated migrant from Windows will post in the Ubuntu Testimonial and Experiences subforum about how you have to be a programmer to use Linux.
Have you thought about diving into anything? Python, Boo, Groovy?

[aysiu]

Have you thought about diving into anything? Python, Boo, Groovy?
Nah. I've taken a peek at a couple of programming books, and it just seems a little over my head.

[schauerlich]

Python, Boo, Groovy?

That sounds like a bad come-on, a rejection, and an attempt at reconciliation.

[Frak]

That sounds like a bad come-on, a rejection, and an attempt at reconciliation.
ROFL. It does.

[Frak]

Nah. I've taken a peek at a couple of programming books, and it just seems a little over my head.
Look into the Head First series books by O'Reilly.

[VH-BIL]

Look into the Head First series books by O'Reilly.

I have spent thousands of $ on books mainly for courses, but there is more information on the internet then you will find in a book. From simple getting started tutorials to information on a specific function. I would only suggest buying a book if you like to sit back with a book, but learning by practical example is always better.

[Frak]

I have spent thousands of $ on books mainly for courses, but there is more information on the internet then you will find in a book. From simple getting started tutorials to information on a specific function. I would only suggest buying a book if you like to sit back with a book, but learning by practical example is always better.
The Head First books are different than your regular programming books. They teach through story and example. They're very, very long, but they are very drawn out and explain everything down to extreme detail.

I also advise buying books. I've found better quality information through books than I have on the internet. I have tons of Wrox books that I think were worth every penny.

[Tombgeek]

Well, I can't really say I have learnt to program, but I am learning.
I'm currently in my third year in high school and I chose Information Technology as one of my subjects. We work with Borderlands Delphi 7 (an IDE that uses a modified form of Object Pascal if I am correct).
The reason I chose it was because I love the feeling of creating something that can be of some use, especially to others. I love the logic behind programming, and the amazing things you can create with just a few lines of code.

[MrNatewood]

At my university everyone has to take a course in programming, regardless of your major, so now i know C.

[meoconvn38]

for my study in university :D , and I found that C language is the most useful thing that i learnt :popcorn:

[limestone]

HTML
CSS
Shell
Python - still learning

I learned it in need.. Python is more of a "must do" thing so I can use it when needed.

[aysiu]

Look into the Head First series books by O'Reilly.
Thanks for the recommendation. Next time I get the itch to try again to learn programming, I'll take a look at that series.

[Frak]

Thanks for the recommendation. Next time I get the itch to try again to learn programming, I'll take a look at that series.
I'd also recommend you go with Head First Programming (http://www.headfirstlabs.com/books/hfprog/). All of the examples are done using Python 3000, from what the description says.

[Denis Krajnc]

I learned it, because I love computer-related things.

[handy]

I spent 6 months of long days learning CanDo 3.0, whilst programming a directory utility that was just the way I wanted it to be, on the Amiga. The initial motivation was probably to see if I could teach myself to program.

This was in the last days of the Amiga (for me) before I switched to windows. A while after I had switched I bought VB 5.0, in the hope that I would be able to carry on with my programming under the new OS. I was so thoroughly disappointed with VB that I gave it & the big box that it came in away in disgust.

I have fiddled around with Python from time to time, via the instructions on this site:

http://www.dickbaldwin.com/python/Pyth0001.htm

[surfer]

started with mathematica... then
c++, c, bash, java, tcl, perl
am now a big python fan.

D (http://www.digitalmars.com/d/) anybody?

[TNT1]

I'll puke in my boot before I ever learn to program anything more complicated than my coffee maker....
As long as you nerds and geeks do all the work, I'm fine...

(wait, do nerds and geeks have a sense of humour?)

[VH-BIL]

I'll puke in my boot before I ever learn to program anything more complicated than my coffee maker....
As long as you nerds and geeks do all the work, I'm fine...

(wait, do nerds and geeks have a sense of humour?)



if (Effort == true)
{
Puke();
}

LOL

[Austin25]

I'm still terible, but I wanted to learn C++ so I could make DS games. I never did.

[wkhasintha]

damn, I'm ashamed to say right now that I fell in love with VB.NET those days. First IDE i used was VS2003 . I learned coding by self studies , Refer to a ebook and practice those codings and I'd just do some crazy things.

[RiceMonster]

if (Effort == true)
{
Puke();
}

LOL

Hmmm, I would have done that like this:


while (effort) {
puke("boot");
}

[Spice Weasel]

Really? I kinda like Java conventions...



if (requiresEffort == true) {
doPuke(this);
}

[VH-BIL]

Hmmm, I would have done that like this:


while (effort) {
puke("boot");
}


here is a revision on your code. LOL


while (acquiredKnowledge > coffeeMaker) {
puke("boot");
}

[schauerlich]

Really? I kinda like Java conventions...



if (requiresEffort == true) {
doPuke(this);
}


Except there's no iteration there, which i believe was the point of sticking it in a while loop.

[bunburya]

I'm still in the process of learning. There were several factors which motivated me to start.

- I wanted to try something new, something not related to law.
- I've always been interested in maths but didn't go that route in college so I saw this as a way to reconnect with that side of things.
- When I was pretty young (about 9 or 10) I used to fiddle around with javascript, I used to love it even though my knowledge was very limited. I decided I wanted to go back and find out more (not to javascript, but programming generally).
- Having gotten into Linux and other open source software, it became apparent that having a knowledge of programming and how computers work could be very helpful and practical.
- I communicate with a lot of people who have some level of experience with programming (family, friends, people on forums such as this one) and, well, monkey see monkey do.

Those would be the main reasons I'm currently trying to take up programming.

[azagaros]

This is an interesting post set... my programming history...

Started on vic-20 and c64's when I was 12, by 15 I had pascal well understood on Hp 9816/216 computers. by the time I was 22 I had c/c++ and assembly on pc platforms. By 25 I had been doing business programming for small businesses around that time too. Learning to write databases was interesting. Game programming isn't hard to me, although the modern stuff I could have an interesting time mastering the graphic libs and getting decent graphics.

Why I got into it, it looked like a challenging learning experience, more challenging than the other school work at the time. Most schools don't catch how boring school is to some students. Writing games for the vic20/c64 was fun.

[lisati]

I'm still terible, but I wanted to learn C++ so I could make DS games. I never did.

Pangs of guilty conscience here: several months back I picked up a copy of Wiley's "Teach yourself C++", complete with (Windows) CD, that the local library was discarding for the exorbitant price of $1. I've barely made it through the first few chapters, other things have taken priority. Never mind, it has a use as a reference tool when browsing the Programing Talk section....

[VH-BIL]

Pangs of guilty conscience here: several months back I picked up a copy of Wiley's "Teach yourself C++", complete with (Windows) CD, that the local library was discarding for the exorbitant price of $1. I've barely made it through the first few chapters, other things have taken priority. Never mind, it has a use as a reference tool when browsing the Programing Talk section....

You can just use the internet to learn anything. For C++ one quick search of "c++ tutorial for beginners" and I got:
http://www.cpp-tutorial.cpp4u.com/
http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/
http://www.cplusplus.com/files/tutorial.pdf
(There were many results)

Yesturday I moved my Maya, 3DStudio Max and True Space skills to Blender just using the internet searching for tutorials.

[phrostbyte]

I started programming by adding new slap commands to an IRC script (ie: * phrostbyte slaps poor_dude around with a cruise missile).

How this led me to become a professional software developer writing computer vision algorithms I have no clue. :p

I actively encourage people to take up software development. There is so much left to do and not enough people to do it. Please learn, please try. :)

[TNT1]

here is a revision on your code. LOL


while (acquiredKnowledge > coffeeMaker) {
puke("boot");
}


I tried that... Damn coffee machine blew up... Coffee all over the kitchen floor...

Last time I trust you nerds and simply copy and paste code into my kitchen appliances...

[VH-BIL]

I tried that... Damn coffee machine blew up... Coffee all over the kitchen floor...

Last time I trust you nerds and simply copy and paste code into my kitchen appliances...

new revision (might need an svn for this lol)

int i = 0;
while (acquiredKnowledge > coffeeMaker.requiredKnowledge) {
puke("boot");
if(i == 100) {
coffeeMaker.Explode(coffeeMaker.Result.Spill_On_Fl oor);
return;
}
i++;
}

[phrostbyte]

new revision (might need an svn for this lol)

int i = 0;
while (acquiredKnowledge > coffeeMaker.requiredKnowledge) {
puke("boot");
if(i == 100) {
coffeeMaker.Explode(coffeeMaker.Result.Spill_On_Fl oor);
return;
}
i++;
}



for (int i = 0; acquiredKnowledge > coffeeMaker.requiredKnowledge; i++) {
puke("boot");
if(i == 100) {
coffeeMaker.Explode(coffeeMaker.Result.Spill_On_Fl oor);
return;
}
}

Probably bad design since the iterator is not tested in the for loop, but w/e. :)

[linux18]

for (int i = 0; acquiredKnowledge > coffeeMaker.requiredKnowledge; i++) {
puke("boot");
if(i == 100) {
coffeeMaker.Explode(coffeeMaker.Result.Spill_On_Fl oor);
return;
}
}Probably bad design since the iterator is not tested in the for loop, but w/e. :)
in python, everything is easy.


import problem
import solution
solution(problem)
print("problem solved") and It's even easier now that python 3 includes an antigravity module.
seriously, it does, try importing it :)

[VH-BIL]

It's even easier now that python 3 includes an antigravity module.
seriously, it does, try importing it :)

I'm not a python programmer and tried doing a search on it. As far as I can see it is a joke, is that right?

What does it do?

[linux18]

I'm not a python programmer and tried doing a search on it. As far as I can see it is a joke, is that right?

What does it do?
typing import antigravity on python 3 opens your web browser to this:
http://xkcd.com/353/
it also geohashes if you want to try this:
http://xkcd.com/426/