I didn't even have a computer to use when I was initially learning. I'm not quite sure how I decided I wanted to learn, as I didn't have any friends or family who were programmers. But somehow I got interested and got books on BASIC and other simple languages from the library. I wrote my first programs with pen and paper on the kitchen table and had to "run" them in my head. I was probably about 7 or 8 years old, and didn't actually get access to a programmable computer until I was 10 (Hypercard on the school's computer lab). Which really frustrated me, as I didn't have access to a manual for Hypercard, so I couldn't figure out how to translate the ideas I knew from BASIC like loops into Hypercard.
It took until I was about 11 or so to finally get a computer of my own, a $50, rather antique at the time, IBM XT. Though really, the real breakthrough was when I got my second computer, a 286 or so that I literally took from a neighbor's trash. That computer I could mess around with without worrying about breaking it!
It took until I was about 11 or so to finally get a computer of my own, a $50, rather antique at the time, IBM XT. Though really, the real breakthrough was when I got my second computer, a 286 or so that I literally took from a neighbor's trash. That computer I could mess around with without worrying about breaking it!
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