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Yeah, my first job was on an old IBM Series/1, which ran in this somewhat low-level language called EDL (Event Driven Language).
It was kind of assembler-like. Debugging consisted of getting a printout, on the left of which would be the actual compiled code (80A2 as an if-equals, I think).
So, you learned a lot of how memory is actually managed by getting that close to the OS. I think that helps understand (or at least be able to theorize) better about what's under the hood when using higher-level languages.
I wouldn't say I miss it, Bob. But, it was interesting to peer into the sausage factory, and I think it made me better at thinking about doing things (relatively) efficiently in more modern systems.
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I used to like using identifiers and COBOL's 88 lines to make the code sound as much like English as I could.
That's not so satisfying (or possible) with other coding languages.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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No not really.
Gee you must have a good memory.
I could never do that.
You miss Fortran !!!.
I can't remember anything about it now except all those punch cards that knocked me around so much.
I do get a tiny bit nostalgic about some of them.
But it is more about the good memories of the times than the language.
"Rock journalism is people who can't write interviewing people who can't talk for people who can't read." Frank Zappa 1980
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Fortran 77, I took a Basic class (my first programming class) before this and darn near swore off programming, as the spaghettification factor was overwhelming. A math instructor talking me into taking Fortran class and I loved it.
Motorola HC11 assembler is another one, my first assembler language. At the time Motorola had what I thought was really good documentation regarding the chips' operation and the instruction set, coded a lot of assembler back then.
"the debugger doesn't tell me anything because this code compiles just fine" - random QA comment
"Facebook is where you tell lies to your friends. Twitter is where you tell the truth to strangers." - chriselst
"I don't drink any more... then again, I don't drink any less." - Mike Mullikins uncle
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I had a job once programming in Fortran 77 on a VAX 11/780. That was a nice machine!
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I've learned BASIC "programming" (and I use that term loosely) on a Commodore 64. Line numbering, only having the first two characters of variable names being significant, resource limitations of the hardware...the short answer would have to be "no".
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I miss real C - when I could access anything any way I wished.
Even earlier - once upon a time I could write FORTRAN faster than most others could do a spreadsheet (Lotus 123 and Symphony).
And never forget:
Feed
Register
Release
| Ravings en masse^ |
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| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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Somewhat.
But I still use a text editor and command-line complier with C# when I don't need a full IDE, so I continue to have that feel anyway.
And, of course, on my OpenVMS systems I have no IDE at all.
If I recall correctly, I have installed only C on my OpenVMS systems, although I have licenses and packages for Pascal and COBOL and other languages which I may never use again.
I would like to have Turbo Pascal 5.5 and Turbo C on my PC again, but only for fun. I have found that Turbo BASIC won't run on Win 10. 
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PIEBALDconsult wrote: I would like to have Turbo Pascal 5.5 and Turbo C on my PC again
me too (specially the turbo C), and I am not that old
M.D.V. 
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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APL?
You can always tell an APL programmer. But not much.
If you can keep your head while those about you are losing theirs, perhaps you don't understand the situation.
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theoldfool wrote: You can always tell an APL programmer
Yeah, he/she's the one that the SETI folks are always following around, trying to decipher his code as the one line design for a hyperdrive.
Software Zen: delete this;
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Only wimps use more than one line.
Hold my beer and watch this!
If you can keep your head while those about you are losing theirs, perhaps you don't understand the situation.
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Had to write a short cobol program in the 90s to handle communications between IBM mainframe and DEC because the resident mainframe people couldn't and wouldn't do it. That was one time to many.
Technician
1. A person that fixes stuff you can't.
2. One who does precision guesswork based on unreliable data provided by those of questionable knowledge.
JaxCoder.com
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I've been coding for 30+ years. Started with GW Basic, the did some QuickBasic.
But for 15 years I did Fox based languages in all it's flavors: FoxBase, FoxPLUS, FxoPro for DOS, FoxPro for Windows, and all version of Visual FoxPro.
I've been doing C# for 15 years now and have't looked back. But I really did enjoy Fox.
If it's not broken, fix it until it is.
Everything makes sense in someone's mind.
Ya can't fix stupid.
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There are the languages I really liked working in at the time: Ada, VAX FORTRAN, VAX/VMS DCL (scripting), LISP, and Intel assembly language using a flat memory model. At the time I developed sufficient fluency in each of these that I could solve any programming problem you like in them, given enough time.
Interestingly, I don't feel any nostalgia to go back to programming in any of them. The amenities available now in most languages are so superior it's incredible. I know that Ada, FORTRAN, and LISP all have contemporary versions with modern facilities, but those all seem to have a "me too!" flavor to them.
Today my language of choice is C# unless there's substantial bit/byte-fiddling to be done, and then it's C++.
Software Zen: delete this;
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I loved the VAX/VMS system. I used Pascal, some C, DCL, FMS, and others. I had a 2 shelf set of manuals from DEC, which if you followed the rules everything would just work. I even developed a primitive pre-object system where I would pass a structure for specific data entry forms to several routines; saved a lot of coding.
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Yeah, that was some system. I don't miss the languages as much as the system itself. You read the directions and wrote the program, and it worked.
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About as much as I miss Latin.
A few of us (about 3 out of 60) got fairly good at it. It became like a secrete language. The priests recognized it but could not understand it. There was one exception, the priest that taught it.
I wonder if any of these languages will ever take on similar religious connotations?
So many years of programming I have forgotten more languages than I know.
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Not bloody likely, SuperBase was a bitch with weird errors that could not be identified. At one point I fixed an error by deleting the entire line and retyping exactly the sane code, weird.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity -
RAH
I'm old. I know stuff - JSOP
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I had something similar happen with a DCL script.
It was very strange, like the script would run, and then the system would try to execute the output.
There was no way it could happen. I had to delete and rewrite the file.
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I forgot that I also have VAX BASIC on my MicroVAX, because it has immediate mode:
HelloWorld.png[^]
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I'm working on Turbo Pascal in DOS right now. Does that qualify?
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I miss programming in ActionScript. The Language which was used for the FlashPlayer.
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To really go back to basics... I miss changing the type writer ribbon sometimes 
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I've loved, and yet I love, the Motorola 680x0 Assembler.
I've spent so many hours on my Amigas furiously bashing the hardware.... pure pleasure!
Sic.
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