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Tony Flury
June 27th, 2008, 01:08 PM
Interested in what sort of cross-section or language skills/ knowledge/experience is represented in this forum - to kick it off :

I was taught Pascal at university in the UK in the late '80s as part of a Computer Science course (lots of top down design and psuedo code). I also learnt a small amount of Cobol, C (including writing a mini cross-compiler and the start of a debugger), Fortran and Occam.

My first job was entirely C based on DEC/VMS - developing a very large s/w sub system.

In my subsquent career (20 years of it) i have learnt and used the following in anger :

SQL (Oracle)
SQL (MS Access)
Visual Basic
C++ (on Solaris)
Csh
VBScript ASP
lsl (Linden Scripting langauge - Second Life)


I am now re-learning C++ as a hobby.

DJMatty
June 27th, 2008, 01:42 PM
Hiya

I learnt to program originally on a Commodore Pet, BASIC, and then C64 basic, progressing onto machine code and 6510 assembly.

Then at uni we were taught all sorts of languages, ada, C, C++, a bit of pascal, cobol and lisp, and my final year project had me writing a disassembler, assembler etc for the 68000 processor. I also messed around with the amiga, coding assembly, and C for it.

My career has had me learning newton script (for apple newton handhelds), C & C++, C#, and SQL.

Pretty varied, and some of it was even fun! ;)

Matt

Balazs_noob
June 27th, 2008, 01:42 PM
i started to learn programming in High School and now i learn CS at University.
i will rate my knowledge on a 1 to 10 scale.

Assembly..1 just the basics
C .............4 i can put together larger than trivial programs in it, implement
Data Structures, parallel programming etc.
Java..........6 i know the JSE part well and some JEE (jsp, servlets.jsf,ejb)
Python.......3 done the official tutorial and did a little practice but never really
found anything bigger to build in it.

i also know a little SQL , PHP , javaScript , ActionScript, Pascal, Delphi.

Now i am planing to deepen my knowledge in web programming (php and JEE)
and some SQL.

EDIT: i also tried lisp but didn't have time for it :( maybe later ;)

Wybiral
June 27th, 2008, 01:53 PM
I had a crappy computer when I was a kid, with almost no software... But it did have QBasic, so I taught myself from the help files and the example programs. Eventually I learned C++, then C, then 386 assembly (trying to move "down" for some reason), but got bored with those really quick and learned Python, which I've become a huge fan of and do some freelancing with these days (mostly web development). I've also been learning and using Lisp as a hobby (particularly Clojure, which, next to Python is one of the funnest languages I've ever used).

forger
June 27th, 2008, 01:59 PM
I'm one of those people that learn along the way. In my spare time, which is a few hours every day, I started "scripting" using mIRC in Windows when I was a youngster, then started playing around with batch (.bat) files, and autoit (automation for windows).
Then 3 of years ago I learned perl regular expressions (at which I'm pretty good - love grep, pcregrep and sed!). Learning regex was pretty much what made me switch to Ubuntu as a primary desktop operating system.
Afterwards, I've been learning pretty much whatever was intriguing during my 3-year use of Ubuntu as a primary desktop :)
I've learned along the way bash, tcl, perl, php, sql (mysql and sqlite) and a tiny bit of python.

Programming and computers aren't related to my future profession, but I'm already attached to open source and a bit of programming to do "the day's work". I intend to keep it that way, you never know what you will need in the future.
Ubuntu, GNU/Linux and Google make it easy to start programming in just minutes!

starfry
June 27th, 2008, 02:01 PM
I learnt my first bit of programming in WH Smiths in Bromley just outside of London, back in the days when "home computers" were just coming on to the scene and you could hang around in a shop, grab a book off a shelf and teach yourself how to program the ZX81 before your parents would buy you one.

I then was able to do an early computing O-Level and cut code on a RML380Z (on which I wrote my first machine code program).

Then it was on my Commodore 64 (my first computer - I skipped the ZX81) before going on to Uni and the world of VMS, Unix, PCs and the rest is history...

rm28157
June 27th, 2008, 02:05 PM
Started off on a Sinclair Spectrum using Basic and then Z80 Assembler. Did some computer science with the Open University in UK where I learnt Pascal and a little Java. I have programmed in /written programs for Ashton Taite DBase IV, Clipper, Visual Basic (upto Version 5). for the last 8 years I have been programming almost exclusively in Delphi (32 bit version, haven't bothered with .NET yet). Delphi rocks!!!

Paul.

Tony Flury
June 27th, 2008, 02:07 PM
Thanks for reminding me ... I left out a chunk of development experience in my mini-cv : :)

Sinclair Basic - on the ZX81
BBC Basic (and some assembler] on the Electron and BB Micro
C on the Commodore Amiga


Back to work - writing an XML schema :lolflag:

nvteighen
June 27th, 2008, 02:40 PM
Ok, here is my horrible "CV":


ZX Spectrum BASIC (I found one in my grandparents' house! I was 11 years old, I think...)
QBASIC
Visual Basic 4.0 & 6.0
HTML + JavaScript
Some SVG scripting
Failed attempt into C++ which made me stop programming for years.
... (death silence) ...
Returning with C.


Yes, quite eye-hurting enough.

In future:

Python
Tempted with some functional programming... Common Lisp??

escapee
June 27th, 2008, 02:43 PM
I started playing with VB when I was around 12
Learned HTML about the same time
Took Pascal in high school for a semester.
Learned some JavaScript and CSS
In college I started learning C++, C, COBOL, SQL, BASH scripting, and VB.NET
During this time I've also taught myself PHP and Objective-C.
Once I'm done learning Obj-C a bit more I'm going to do more work in Python.

pmasiar
June 27th, 2008, 03:54 PM
I started with Algol60 on mainframe (yes, I made my own punchcards :-) ) then learned in quick succession ASM for 360, PL/1, Algol68 (and got glimpse of many other languages with focus on diversity, like Lisp, APL) , and for my thesis, I learned ASM for i8080, PDP/11, and ported Forth/8080 to PDP/11. That was teh fun project!

I lived through many technologies: PDP/11 with BASIC, C and PDP/11 shell (and my first Unix, BSD2.9), CP/M, dBaseII, then III, TurboC, FoxBase, but instead dBIV/FoxPro I moved to Progress 4GL for 10 years... Best SQL development environment ever made, SQL is so clunky compared to that. Add some VB for Access to the mix. Then Perl, Python, Java (10 years late to the party :-( ), web app frameworks, databases, wave after wave of new technologies with no end in sight... and forgot and skip some in between :-) like Modula2, Prolog, etc.

It was conscious decision of mine not to learn ASM for i386, that architecture is insane - I moved to DB instead. Cleanest CPU architecture is PDP/11 - I will look back at CPU when they put Forth into metal.

Mickeysofine1972
June 27th, 2008, 04:39 PM
I started when I got a Commodore VIC20 for xmas but that same year started BBC micros too.

I later moved to i286s in the 80's and QBASIC/MS-BASIC

After that I worked for 3 years as a weaver and didnt code at all :lolflag:
Then I got made redundant and returned to computer to learn C followed by C++ on turbo C++, followed by i386 ASM and a bit of C-- (which I cant seem to find on the net anymore lol).

Then I moved from job to job using the following:

C/C++
VB
VBA
VBScript
JavaScript
PHP
Python (more recently)

I also did a bit of COBOL as a investigation that soon got boring lol

As you can see its been a long 24 years since the VIC20 LMAO

Mike

GammaPoint
June 27th, 2008, 04:48 PM
I taught myself Python from a book two years ago in preparation for joining my research group. I then picked up Fortran about a year later. I'm now spending some time getting competent in C++ so that I can understand code written in that language.

Python is my favorite of the three, but that's a little unfair considering it's a scripting language (of course it's fun!).

LaRoza
June 27th, 2008, 05:54 PM
I had just gotten my first computer (it had Windows XP) at the end of 2006. (I was 18, almost 19) and I was interesting in making web pages and got a book from Borders on HTML. I had over a short period of time gotten more books on the subject, and was intrigued by the other books in that section of the bookstore (they had names like "C++", "JavaScript", "Java", "OpenGL" etc) and picked on up from the same publisher as the HTML book I had first bought. The book was on C++ (Sams Teach it yourself one) (big mistake! but I was new and didn't have the internet...)

That is how I started. If you picture me in the bookstore, the shelf perpendicular (the computer books were in a corner) to the one with the programming books had the Unix/Linux books, and the bright orange one with the "ubuntu" on it on the top shelf caught my eye (although I didn't know what it was, but it was onsale) and I bought it for no particular reason not long after starting to learn how to program...

xlinuks
June 27th, 2008, 06:25 PM
I remember starting learning web programming (general stuff like HTML and JavaScript) back in the 90's when I was in jail for a few years, I just stumbled across an interesting book (when Netscape was "the" browser) and I was allowed to keep it. As I got out I picked up Java by 2003 and now I'm learning C++ :)

nvteighen
June 27th, 2008, 06:32 PM
I remember starting learning web programming (general stuff like HTML and JavaScript) back in the 90's when I was in jail for a few years, I just stumbled across an interesting book (when Netscape was "the" browser) and I was allowed to keep it. As I got out I picked up Java by 2003 and now I'm learning C++ :)
In jail... By the way you wrote it, I assume you're not kidding... So, it's quite remarkable that you've been able to reconduct your life. Congratulations!

xlinuks
June 27th, 2008, 06:36 PM
Thanks.. it actually served me well, I don't think these we years I lost in vain, I learned a lot.. (including some programming as I said).

Greyed
June 27th, 2008, 06:37 PM
I started in my single-digit years with teeny BASIC programs on a Color Computer.

Then I moved up to Turbo Pascal 3.0 when I was, uhm... 11? 12? Mainly doing small tools for a friend's BBS. Work that would not be performed in Perl or Python.

After that I took a Basic course in high school. However by that time I was already well beyond the 2nd course the instructor taught so I gained little from it.

Decided to run a BBS of my own and started out with batch under DOS, then batch under OS/2 which lead me to 4OS/2 and back into DOS (under OS/2) and automating my BBS using 4DOS; my real first foray into scripting.

A few years later I landed a job at a local ISP and had a wonderful mentor who introduced me to Perl. I went on to program Perl professionally for the next 5 years.

During that time I attended an O'Reilly convention where David Beazley, Author of _Python: Essential Reference_gave a talk on Python. In one 4 hour session I picked up enough Python to grasp that it addressed all my frustrations with Perl while still being dead simple to program. That was about 10 years ago.

For the past 2 years I've been able to use Python professionally. It was something I introduced to fill a need in my department and has since grown from a single basic script that coughed up entries from a CSV file to about 80k of source. That source is maintained by me and a coworker that I have infected with the Python bug. I'm hoping he'll pass it along. ;)

I've poked at C, PHP and Ruby but after a few weeks I generally go back to Python.

So a list in chronological order:
BASIC
Turbo Pascal 3.0
Batch
4OS/2 & 4DOS
Perl
Python
Dabbled in: C, Ruby, PHP

JupiterV2
June 28th, 2008, 02:37 AM
I got my first computer (actually, it was the family's computer) at the age of 10. It was a Tandy 1000SL. I did no programming but that's what kicked off my love of computers. Programming on a MUD introduced me to C (LPC is a modified C strictly for use on MUDs (kind of a cross between Objective C and ANSI C due to its OOP aspects)).



QBASIC - self taught at home
Turbo Pascal - only the basics in High School
Visual Basic - self-taught + 2nd year college
C++ - dabbled with a bit when I was 16-17, stopped, and picked up again 10 years later.
C - only about 6mo but learning steadily. Past learning the language(syntax, etc), now moving on to libraries.
LPC - MUD programming language (for those of you old enough to know what a MUD is...)
HTML - learned v. 3 or 4 in high school. Recently learned 4.01 for history's sake.
XHTML - learned about 4mo ago
CSS - again, about 4mo ago
Bash - fun scripting language. Still learning *nix commands to fully take advantage of it.


I also ran a BBS (as did my best friend) and had to learn MS-DOS batch scripting quite fluently (which, btw, doesn't even light a candle to BASH).

I plan to learn Python, Assembly (x86), XML, YACC, PHP and Javascript in the near future.

myrtle1908
June 28th, 2008, 03:35 AM
Started back in the 80's on my old Atari ST :D Don't even remember what language it was but I copied some code from a book and made some pretty fireworks display on the screen. I remember thinking how crap the end result was given the effort I put in.

I now work as a software developer focussing on web based systems. Too many languages/technologies to list but at the moment I mainly use Java, JavaScript (ExtJS which is an awesome toolkit), Perl, HTML, CSS, Progress 4GL.

I urge anybody thinking of creating rich web based applications to take a look at ExtJS http://www.extjs.com. No, I don't work for them. Some of my extensions have recently been added to the ExtJS core which was encouraging.

luisito
June 28th, 2008, 03:42 AM
MSX Basic when I was about 10 or 11. I could also program in Basic in other home computers.

Assembly for the 6510 (Commodore 128) when I was 12.

Pascal when I was 14. Assembly for Intel soon after.

Lots of ugly experimental languages in college (Samlltalk, gopher, etc...).

C++ when I was around 22 (and still learning).

I occasionally tried a few other things like Python, matlab(?), javascript,...

I hate anything that is database related. I have some sort of psycological problem with that.

slavik
June 28th, 2008, 05:16 AM
1998 - 8th grade - Brother gave me his Problem Solving with C book (more on this later) because I got interested in programming for some reason. I got upto doing loops, then just dropped it.

1999 - 9th grade - My cousin took a course in programming in his high school in which he was taught QBasic, he asked me for help. I learned QBasic from his code and from qbasic.com

2000 - 10th grade - I take QBasic in my High School and do very well in it.

2001 - 11th grade - I take Visual Basic 1 and also do well. I decided not to take Visual Basic 2 and 3.

2002 - 12th grade - I wanted to take AP C++, but due to the teacher who was supposed to teach it taking a sabbatical, I don't. :(

2003 - freshman year in college - I take intro programming which is taught using C (using the exact same book my brother gave me 5 years prior, he attended the same college). I follow this up with assembly (more of a here's what under the hood of C and how the processor works) and advanced programming in C (major let down for me).

2004 through 2007 - later college years - more courses in analysis of algorithms, Perl, etc, etc, etc ...

2008 through whenever - graduate school with emphasis on parallel programming.

neoAnderson
June 28th, 2008, 06:57 AM
I had just gotten my first computer (it had Windows XP) at the end of 2006. (I was 18, almost 19) and I was ...

There's been a lot of talk about LaRoza's gender and now she's given away her age :lolflag: So you're 20, almost 21 now? You're doing a pretty good job for your age, if I say so myself! :shock:

I started off with GWBASIC in primary school and then moved on to QBASIC, C, C++, Java, PHP, and quite a few Web-designing languages. Now I work extensively in Perl. Although I am open to new alternatives and have started exploring unknown territory now ;-)

Mickeysofine1972
June 28th, 2008, 08:28 AM
There's been a lot of talk about LaRoza's gender and now she's given away her age :lolflag: So you're 20, almost 21 now? You're doing a pretty good job for your age, if I say so myself! :shock:

I started off with GWBASIC in primary school and then moved on to QBASIC, C, C++, Java, PHP, and quite a few Web-designing languages. Now I work extensively in Perl. Although I am open to new alternatives and have started exploring unknown territory now ;-)

LaRosa is a GIRL?!?!?!?! :)

lisati
June 28th, 2008, 08:47 AM
Circa 1977 a couple of small Fortran programs at school, punched on "portapunch" cards (kinda like regular punched cards in size but the sort that you push out "chads" with a pen or paper clip, and then more fall out and jam the card reader at the computer centre).
1978: the school I attended got a Wang 2200 machine, with a cassette tape drive, 40-column 2-colour printer, and a version of Basic. At the time not many schools had computers, and this was before MS-DOS, Windows, or Linux were generally available.

1979 Some Fortran (at univerity)
1980 A little PL/1 and Pascal
Later on COBOL (on a Data General Eclipse, can't remember which model), ASM on an IBM MVS monster - as I recall the equivalent of the "CALL" opcode on the x86 family had to be mimiced with a macro!

Eventually GWBasic under MS-DOS, some Z80 assembly on a VZ-300 that plugged into a TV. I think in some countries a similar machine was known as "Laser" - comparinig the ROM with published listings for TRS-80 and System-80 showed a remarkable similarity and led to the discovery of disabled keywords.

Then on to ApBasic (compiled Basic for MS-DOS - I think there's still copies around via Google) and some x86 assembler (segment:offset memory models - ugh, many opportunityies for confusion),

More recently looking at learning some C.

-grubby
June 28th, 2008, 08:55 AM
December 07 - Dabbled a bit in Python
January 08 - Started learning HTML
February 08 - Started learning CSS
March or April 08 - Starting learning PHP
May 08 - Didn't get far with PHP
June 08 - Actually Learning Python

Sinkingships7
June 28th, 2008, 09:25 AM
LaRosa is a GIRL?!?!?!?! :)

Yes. Does it tear you up inside, or what?

EDIT: You know what, let me take that back. All hail the Borg queen!

LaRoza
June 28th, 2008, 04:43 PM
There's been a lot of talk about LaRoza's gender and now she's given away her age :lolflag: So you're 20, almost 21 now? You're doing a pretty good job for your age, if I say so myself! :shock:


I gave away my age and location many times on the forum :-) 20, Scranton PA.


LaRosa is a GIRL?!?!?!?! :)

Don't know anyone named that. LaRoza. Programmers should know better.



EDIT: You know what, let me take that back. All hail the Borg queen!

Don't hail, be assimilated.

pmasiar
June 28th, 2008, 07:50 PM
LaRosa is a GIRL?!?!?!?! :)

She is borg queen. How else she cound make so many posts?

Resistance is futile. Get ready to be assimilated.

I hope **now** is obvious to everyone why Python is destined to take over the programming? :-) Because borg collective thinks clearly - thinks in Python :-)

Can+~
June 28th, 2008, 08:08 PM
Finally, I can share my weird pathway into programming:


I remember starting with starcraft (yes, starcraft), with it's own pseudo-language, which was pretty much "Event-Condition-Action". It was fun to make my own campaigns.
Later my brother had flash, he had serious troubles with it (as he is a designer), so I learnt to help him, and eventually learnt AS1 and AS2 (ActionScript), which was a terrible java-like language (Terrible because it pretty much encouraged the use of Globals).
I never really did anything more, I tried learning C and C++ but I never got inside a community to ask help, so I got stuck trying to learn by myself, I sticked with flash on windows.
Expanded knowledge to try PHP, SQL, CSS, HTML. I master the two lasts, PHP and SQL are difficult to start inside windows.
I even tried Visual Studio, which was quite easy, but... I didn't like the huge syntax.
First year of University and I decide to try linux (Ubuntu Feisty).
Second semester of University, they teach us C, finally I knew a real language (Not insulting AS programmers, but you're constrained by what Adobe wants).
I join this community, discover Python (weirdly, through XKCD) and decide to try it.
Now, I find myself in a position of unlimited potential, I'm not constrained by the windows platform, I do sudo apt-get install apache2, and I can set a server to learn web languages properly; pull texlive and do LaTeX, same for lisp, ruby, etc.


Although, now my progess has slowed down due to Calculus/Algebra 3 (Differential Equations, I HATE THEM).

cmay
June 29th, 2008, 12:33 AM
in between my good periods where i am not that sick from my cancer treatment
i have over the last 3 years learned pascal as the first language. and whit free pascal on free dos turbo pascal 7.0 after reading some basic tutorials on free basic and just basic.

i have later used c++ for some text-editors on windows.
before i had a long break.
i did not get c++ nor do i get java.

then i have followed some perl python and ruby tutorials trying to find the next language i wanted to learn before i learn c.
i have had the need to use html sometimes so i use it from a manual and forget all about it when i am done .

now learning c.
if i can learn that after my eye operation i will use this the most on my new hobby whit computers.
that is 3 years ago i turned on my first computer i had for 10 years to do anything other than writing a letter and print it out.
when i learned i could program plugins for audacity whit the build in language it uses in the nyquist prompt i found a use for computers.

other than that i wanted to help my brother start up his education as a programmer so i read a lot to see if i could maybe help him out.
i still read far more than i practice whit c as i learn now.
i read all forums i know of everyday and practice by reading a post and try to figure out who is posting as a person and what is the need .
then i read the codes and compiler log and try guess what is wrong .
then i read what others answer and compare my guess to the solution.
that is to learn reading compiler logs and i do that everyday. i have a hard time writing code becouse i cant see that well so at least if i am good at reading errors i have a better chance at fixing the code i write.

all in all i think my experience just counts as strictly hobby.
i am also planing on keeping that way.

my brother quit the education pretty early by the way.

Jordanwb
June 30th, 2008, 02:17 AM
Let's see:

In grade 9 I started learning HTML
In the summer between grades 9 and 10 I started learning PHP/MySQL
In grade 10 I learned VB 6
In the summer between grades 10 and 11 I learned a bit of CSS
In Grade 11 I learned C++
In the summer between grades 11 and 12 I learned C#
In Grade 12 I learned Java, VB.Net 2005 and more advanced CSS

I couldn't bring my self to continue learning JavaScript because I found it too annoying.

samsmartguy
June 30th, 2008, 08:38 AM
Very interesting topic, Well, I started programming with VBA ( Visual Basic For Application), and My first programm was "Hello, World".