4 ms·

I actually did learn to program without a computer. At that (late 80ties) time my country was still a part of USSR, computers were rare and we had none at schoo

I actually did learn to program without a computer. At that (late 80ties) time my country was still a part of USSR, computers were rare and we had none at school. The programming class we had was meant to be taught without a computer, and it included all the necessary concepts, so we learnt about algorithms, variables, loops, etc. Later, when I finally got to use a computer all I needed to find out the particular syntax to use, I could program already. I am not sure though whether my first "real" language did spoil me beyond repair as some claim (because it was BASIC, MSX BASIC) or if does not count, because the first language I did program in was not BASIC but rather some pseudo code.

ctdonath 15y ago
Very early on, not long after that first memorable 3-line BASIC program that printed (!) a sine wave on paper, Dad had me work thru a book on programming - no computer. Every page had an assembler-style command in the corner, and I learned much by "running" the program by hand, flipping hither & yon thru pages whilst scribbling down numbers in "registers" on paper. Don't remember the book's title or the program's function, but it did make a big impression - and was a lot of fun.