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A lovely article. I did not start programming with intensity until I was 30, almost two years ago. Now I look back to my youth, when I was poking around in Basi

A lovely article. I did not start programming with intensity until I was 30, almost two years ago. Now I look back to my youth, when I was poking around in Basic, trying to figure out how to write a login system for my computer (running DOS 5 or something similar), and I wonder, what happened? Why did I ever stop? Why didn't I carry it through? I spent my teenage years and my 20s doing work I wasn't passionate about simply because it was easy. Now programming has changed the way my brain works. I'm a much more critical thinker. I wake up in the morning and the first thing I do is crack open Emacs (yep.) and start hacking. I need to program. Creating software is the first thing I've ever been truly passionate about in my entire life. My entire wasted life. At least I found it. Better late than never.

phugoid 16y ago
I followed a very similar pattern. I got stuck at DOS 5 and BASIC. At the time, I had a C book but my 286 couldn't run the compiler. Also, I couldn't run Windows 3.1. So I stopped learning and picked up the electric guitar. Like you, I've come back to it full force in my 30s. Programming has invaded my brain, and shapes the way I think. I have rekindled the excitement I felt as a child and I won't let go of it again.
- mattdeboard 16y ago
  Hear, hear. I'm hacking on a project on a Sunday morning and having a good time. I used to fill these gaps with video games.
- patrickk 16y ago
  Weird. I have a memory of when I was about 12, attempting to code BASIC on a VTech PreComputer Prestige (not a 'real' computer!): http://ttggallery.blogspot.com/2010/01/vtech-pre-computer-prestige.html http://ttggallery.blogspot.com/2010/01/vtech-pre-computer-pr... The manual had some instructions for learning BASIC. I messed around with it for a few days, but never stuck with it long enough with it to have an epiphany. It was only when I got to college in my late teens that my eyes were opened to the possibilities of programming. Wish I taught myself to code instead of wasting time moping around during my school years!
  - remicles2 16y ago
    I learned how to program BASIC on Vtech too. It was "Precomputer Power Pad Plus", and it had a similar blue top spiral bound manual. I wish I still had the print copy, but I found an electronic one here: http://www.vtechkids.com/_f/_pw/_manual/Precomputer_PowerPad_Plus.pdf http://www.vtechkids.com/_f/_pw/_manual/Precomputer_PowerPad... .

phugoid 16y ago

I followed a very similar pattern. I got stuck at DOS 5 and BASIC. At the time, I had a C book but my 286 couldn't run the compiler. Also, I couldn't run Windows 3.1. So I stopped learning and picked up the electric guitar. Like you, I've come back to it full force in my 30s. Programming has invaded my brain, and shapes the way I think. I have rekindled the excitement I felt as a child and I won't let go of it again.

mattdeboard 16y ago
Hear, hear. I'm hacking on a project on a Sunday morning and having a good time. I used to fill these gaps with video games.
patrickk 16y ago
Weird. I have a memory of when I was about 12, attempting to code BASIC on a VTech PreComputer Prestige (not a 'real' computer!): http://ttggallery.blogspot.com/2010/01/vtech-pre-computer-prestige.html http://ttggallery.blogspot.com/2010/01/vtech-pre-computer-pr... The manual had some instructions for learning BASIC. I messed around with it for a few days, but never stuck with it long enough with it to have an epiphany. It was only when I got to college in my late teens that my eyes were opened to the possibilities of programming. Wish I taught myself to code instead of wasting time moping around during my school years!
- remicles2 16y ago
  I learned how to program BASIC on Vtech too. It was "Precomputer Power Pad Plus", and it had a similar blue top spiral bound manual. I wish I still had the print copy, but I found an electronic one here: http://www.vtechkids.com/_f/_pw/_manual/Precomputer_PowerPad_Plus.pdf http://www.vtechkids.com/_f/_pw/_manual/Precomputer_PowerPad... .