tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1531850453904970924.post7594355864717869431..comments2008-09-15T13:05:00.411-04:00RoboJennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04085723385146006020noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1531850453904970924.post-5577548564496642952008-09-15T13:05:00.000-04:002008-09-15T13:05:00.000-04:00@Andrew Thanks for your answers! It's great hearing from different people about how they got involved. I particularly enjoyed the bit about getting the dot-matrix printer as payment. The printer I used for the most number of years was a high-quality dot-matrix printer... its output was actually as good as or better than the early ink-jets for quite a while. One picky English teacher I had demanded that all papers we wrote had to be printed on an ink-jet printer. I used this trust dot-matrix and she couldn't tell the difference. =)RoboJennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04085723385146006020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1531850453904970924.post-39616763297509232872008-09-15T12:30:00.000-04:002008-09-15T12:30:00.000-04:00How old were you when you started programming? <BR/>17 (30 years ago)<BR/><BR/>How did you get started in programming? <BR/>Assembled an 8-bit microprocessor kit with a whopping 4k of memory. Taught myself assembly language programming.<BR/><BR/>What was your first language? <BR/>Signetics 2650 assembler.<BR/><BR/>What was the first real program you wrote? <BR/>Interactive debugger for the Z80 based Microbee computer. Payment for it was an Epson dot-matrix printer.<BR/><BR/>What languages have you used since you started programming? <BR/>Assembly language for many architectures, Pascal, C, C++, various flavors of Basic, Cobol, Fortran, Common Lisp, Forth, Ingres SQL, PostgreSQL, M4, Unix shell. Still using C, PostgreSQL, Common Lisp and Unix shell daily.<BR/><BR/>What was your first professional programming gig? <BR/>Programming the first Apple Macintosh in assembly language.<BR/><BR/>If you knew then what you know now, would you have started programming? <BR/>Absolutely.<BR/><BR/>If there is one thing you learned along the way that you would tell new developers, what would it be? <BR/>1) You cannot learn too much theoretical computer science or mathematics. <BR/>2) Money is irrelevant.<BR/><BR/>What’s the most fun you’ve ever had… programming? <BR/>It's all been so much fun that I couldn't choose. Robotics, AI, database systems, web applications, you name it. The only time that wasn't fun was working for a lottery agency.Andrew Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00970751845100744500noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1531850453904970924.post-41117369988491229462008-09-15T10:43:00.000-04:002008-09-15T10:43:00.000-04:00Thanks! And of course I don't mind you responding here... I love feedback and don't get enough of it!RoboJennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04085723385146006020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1531850453904970924.post-1623029636444159782008-09-15T10:09:00.000-04:002008-09-15T10:09:00.000-04:00EDIT: should say "are rare", rather than "is rare".JO. A. BORRAShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082770042080952617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1531850453904970924.post-68688760474178493412008-09-15T10:08:00.000-04:002008-09-15T10:08:00.000-04:00Jenny,<BR/>I hope you don't mind my responding to your comments here - but this is EXACTLY the kind of article I think we want to read. As I told you a few months ago, there are precious few brainy, articulate, female programmers out there - so by default the hows and whys of what you do, what you think about, etc. is rare and (to a certain audience) potentially very interesting.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for this one - keep 'em coming!JO. A. BORRAShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082770042080952617noreply@blogger.com