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Thanks for this. I began programming when I was 8 on a Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48K from books I liberated from my Mom back in 1983. I grew up as the internet was j

Thanks for this. I began programming when I was 8 on a Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48K from books I liberated from my Mom back in 1983. I grew up as the internet was just becoming a thing, communicating with other would be developers and hackers on IRC channels. I still haven't lost the bug. I'd like to say my CS degree studies were useful, but they were hopelessly inadequate and so constrained and tedious as to kill any further interest in formal education. I ended up dropping out and continued to learn informally and build a successful career over the next 23 years. It's inspiring to read about developers who are also informally educated. It brings a sense that people like us are more common than we think and that we're really not alone. They're also finding great success despite the prevailing wisdom that you can't make it without a degree. People like that are proof that you can.

Pete-Codes 7y ago
Thanks! Really glad you like it! Definitely a fun thing for me to be working on. I had a ZX Spectrum but unfortunately just used it to play Fantasy World Dizzy.
arethuza 7y ago
Well, I started on ZX-80 at school then did a CS degree which I didn't really get at first so I struggled in the first year - but in subsequent years I came to really enjoy the more abstract and maths oriented parts of the course. I don't know where the idea that a CS course is a good practical training for a career in development came from - I'm pretty glad the course I did included almost nothing that was attempting to "train" you and focused mostly on the absolute conceptual fundamentals (from the electrical engineering side through general engineering maths to specialised CS subjects) as well as letting us loose to actually build stuff with minimal supervision but careful evaluation. [The thing that really got my attention was the lambda calculus course where the lecturer mentioned the S & K combinators, of course the same course covered the Y-combinator!]
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Pete-Codes 7y ago

Thanks! Really glad you like it! Definitely a fun thing for me to be working on. I had a ZX Spectrum but unfortunately just used it to play Fantasy World Dizzy.

arethuza 7y ago

Well, I started on ZX-80 at school then did a CS degree which I didn't really get at first so I struggled in the first year - but in subsequent years I came to really enjoy the more abstract and maths oriented parts of the course. I don't know where the idea that a CS course is a good practical training for a career in development came from - I'm pretty glad the course I did included almost nothing that was attempting to "train" you and focused mostly on the absolute conceptual fundamentals (from the electrical engineering side through general engineering maths to specialised CS subjects) as well as letting us loose to actually build stuff with minimal supervision but careful evaluation. [The thing that really got my attention was the lambda calculus course where the lecturer mentioned the S & K combinators, of course the same course covered the Y-combinator!]

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