I remember using DOS commands and going to internet chat rooms that were full of college kids around the world (my favorite one was in Brazil and created by students at a University in Sao Paolo). How crazy to think that my first exposure to the internet was BEFORE I knew anything about Windows. I never did figure out how to get my Power Mac on line (1G of memory was so vast. It was the first time I had ever heard that word. I thought that computer would remain THE BEST forever!!). I can still hear the unmistakable Apple "chime" it made when I turned it on (Apple was first to do that -- an instant classic like the original Nokia ringtone).
I am old enough to remember when floppy disks were floppy, I remember having to WRITE a program as homework for Math class (fifth grade: my project? An image of a Peace Sign. Much more creative than your average first and last name repeated on the screen diagonally. Sigh. My brother helped me.)
After college I worked at a web design studio over the summer for my brother who was the art director there. He gave me work to do but made me learn how to do basic html programming. He gave me a pamphet-like book and told me to take it home and read it. He had me doing practical exercises the next morning and helping out with a real site in the afternoon (a hotel in Milwaukee). I am still greatful for that experience.
Here is what I learned from basic programming:
1. Problem-Solving
2. Perseverence.
3. Failing and starting over.
4. Every comma, dot and space count.
5. It is the most useful skill you can have in modern society. Programers are gold. Their hours are billable, their work is measurable. They change the world on a daily basis.
That was my fleeting contact with the world of programming. UNTIL NOW!!
See, I discovered code.org where I am taking a free online course in computer science.
Free online courses rock. Programming rocks. I am on my way to changing the world.
Talk later.
No comments:
Post a Comment