Computers and Programming

Since my childhood, I've always been deeply interested in computers. This interest started in an era when personal computers were not yet a part of everyday life. Over the past 57 years, I have observed a significant evolution in the field of computing. From the initial days of large, inaccessible mainframes to the modern era of compact and powerful personal computers, my experience has spanned a period of rapid and profound technological changes in computing.

• Mainframes: CDC6500, CDC7600, IBM7090, VAX 8600, CRAY
• Personal computers: Caviar, PC/DOS, PC/Windows, Macintosh, iPad, iPhone
• Assemblers: 8080, Z80, 8086, MC6800, MC68000, RISC
• Programming languages: Fortran-66, Basic, Bambi, Assembler, Pascal, PL/P, C, C++, Objective-C, Python, Java/Javascript, Swift, SQL, Matlab, Mathematica, HTML5, CSS
• Data science: Numpy, Scipy, Pandas, Pytorch, Keras
• IDE: XCode, Visual Studio, Visual Studio code
• Operating systems: HDOS, Wylbur, VMS, DOS, Linux(bash/csh/zcsh), Windows, MacOS, iOS
• Typesetting: LaTeX, Overleaf, BibTeX, MetaFont, TikZ
• Office: Word, Powerpoint, Excel, Pages, Keynote, Numbers
• Version control: CMS, cvs, git

• My first program (1972): Fortran-66
  In 1972 I wrote my first Fortran computer program. It consisted of the following instructions:

        DO 100 I=1,10
        X = SQRT(I)
        WRITE(*,1000) I,X
  100   CONTINUE
  1000  FORMAT(I10, F6.3)
        END

  I had to type it in using punched cards (if you do not know what they are, see e.g. Wikipedia or watch this video). I ran the code on a CDC 6000 series mainframe. It generated the following output (on a line printer):
  
           1 1.000
           2 1.414
           3 1.732
           4 2.000
           5 2.236
           6 2.449
           7 2.646
           8 2.828
           9 3.000
          10 3.162
  
  You would not imagine how crazy happy I was !
• My first home-built computer (1978): Heathkit-H8
  The Heathkit H8, my first computer, was released in late 1977. Unlike many computers at the time, which were sold fully assembled, the H8 came as a kit. I had to built it soldering its components on the printed circuit board. I loved it ! It was relatively affordable at $375 (thank you Mom & Dad), but this price only included the chassis and CPU card. To run substantial software, I had to buy at least a 4KB RAM H8-1 memory board for an extra $140. I also needed to use an audio cassette for data storage, the H8-5 Serial I/O card, which cost another $110. Also, upgrading to a floppy drive with 92KB of storage required installing at least 16K of RAM.
• My first portable personal computer (1984): The Macintosh 128K, a revolution - I learnt to interact with a PC via a mouse ! The CPU was a 32-bit Motorola 68000 running at 7.8MHz. The 9-inch screen had a resolution of 512 x 342. That was amazing!
  
• My first WWW browser (1993): Mosaic, an X11-based application.
  
• My first AI pin (202???): Humane ai Pin, a disruptive or overhiped gadget? Regardless, I want to have one!