My Journey from Paper to Pixel: The Early Days of Programming

Since the dawn of the digital age, programming languages and machines have evolved in countless ways, but my personal journey into programming began with far simpler beginnings. This article recounts some of the early computers that marked my transition from paper to pixel.

From Modems to Virtual Machines

My initial exposure to programming came in 1981, far from the high-tech canvas of today's powerful machines. Our university worked with a Wang VS 2200 workstation accessed through a 300 baud modem, which seemed as fast as a snail's pace by today's standards. There was no user interface to speak of, no operating system; we got thrown right into a BASIC interpreter. We were essentially tossed into a digital void of possibilities and challenges, with no idea what kind of machine we were working with.

Workstations and Classroom Machines

The Wang VS 2200 was not the only rippling influence on my early programming days. Our classroom environment consisted of workstations, where each student had access to a machine smaller than a building but still large enough to fill a classroom. We had to do all our coding on paper and transcribe it into the machines when in class. Learning languages like BASIC, RPG, and COBOL, with FORTRAN being taught at other colleges in the area, provided a solid foundation for the future.

It wasn’t until 1986 that I got my first taste of personal computing with a Tandy 1000, a machine that felt like a revelation. Although it lacked the ability to go online, it was a stark contrast from the Wang VS 2200. The Tandy 1000 came with a boxful of floppy discs, ranging from cartoon development software to IQ tests.

Challenges and Frustrations

Frustration soon set in when I tried to impress my friends with a program that could calculate the odds of winning the lottery. The Tandy 1000 proved to be a slow learner, processing only a certain number of computations per minute. After a day of constant processing, I decided to disconnect the TV to check the computer's progress. Little did I know that the same moment I unplugged the TV, the power went out, causing a brownout in Florida. The computer and the program were left rebooting again from the start.

Evolution of Early Machines

My earliest experiences with programming were quite different from what we see today. For me, it started with an IBM 7094, running the IBSYS monitor—a system that wasn’t even an operating system. We sent our card decks to another town, waiting for the printout the next day. Later on, I moved to a more advanced IBM 407 board-wired machine, which, although precursor to modern computers, was still quite primitive.

Gradually, I graduated to the Univac 1108, which was the pinnacle of my early computing experiences. It’s a testament to how far technology has come, from the slow and tedious processes of the past to the rapid and intuitive world of today.

When did you start programming? What early computer or machine did you use?