A SQL Server Meme

Well I was called out by Tibor Karaszi, so here goes:

How old were you when you first started programming?

I'd say I was about 19 when I started. I remember in 1976 that I was at University of Queensland. I was doing an honours degree in physics and maths and didn't have the slightest interest in those computing people that spent their lunch hours looking at great piles of 15×11 listings. By the next year, I was one of them.

How did you get started in programming?

I was doing RPG work on some mini-computers, some work on micros (first TRS-80 model) and some mainframe work (Fujitsu X8, IBM assembler and COBOL and JCL, etc.) I was completely fascinated in what you could do with each type of machine. I loved the interactivity of the micro. By 1978, I'd bought a Cromemco multi-user Z-80 system running MPM and with the old bank-switched memory. The biggest hassle was finding a hard drive (around 5 and 10 meg at the time) that would work reliably for any length of time.

What was your first language?

RPG

What was the first real program you wrote?

Must have been some RPG code for a client of the consultant I was working with/learning from.

What languages have you used since you started programming?

I'm guessing now (and am sure I'll miss some) but the ones I've used in any substantial amount would  be:

RPG, COBOL, Assembler, Pascal, Modula 2, C, C#, C++, Basic (many variations), SQL, SPL, Algol, Simula 

What was your first professional programming gig?

It'd be RPG coding for a local consultancy.

If you knew then what you know now, would you have started programming?

Yes

If there is one thing you learned along the way that you would tell new developers, what would it be?

Have something passionate that you're working on all the time, even if it isn't what you do for a living.

What’s the most fun you’ve ever had … programming?

As Tibor mentioned, it would have been the voyage of discovery in the early days. However, the playing around I did with operating system internals while working on MPE for HP was really fascinating. 

Who are you calling out?

Peter DeBetta, Kevin Kline, Craig Utley, Fernando Guerrero 

 

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