Ask HN: What was the first platform you ever wrote code for?

8 points·hellofunk··10 comments

For me it was an old Radio Shack calculator from the 80's that happened to have 2K of programmable memory in BASIC. I took that about as far as possible, implementing my own database, writing little command-line games and even a silly flight simulator using alphanumerics for its "cockpit".

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Ti-85 in high school. TI-BASIC at first, then a friend showed me games built for z-shell (Z80 assembly) and my mind was blown, started learning C and assembly.

IBM 7094 running IBSYS operating system. In those days a PC meant punch card. I used an IBM 026 card punch to enter my Fortran IV program one line per card followed by the data cards. With a rubber band around it, I placed my card deck into a cardboard box for the next batch run. They were read onto reel-to-reel tape by an IBM 1400 series system and the tape transferred to the 7094. The 1400 series system printed out the results of compilation and execution from the output tape of the 7094. This was mid-year 1967.

Commodore 64, using Commodore BASIC - I was around 9 or 10 years old IIRC (which I don't!)

Qbasic on DOS around age 7, if you don't count editing autoexec.bat to put up funny boot messages :) after that I learned Clipper because my dad used it for work, so there were lots of hard-covered manuals around.

Apple //e when I was 13. Started with AppleSoft BASIC and quickly moved on to assembler using the built-in mini-assembler. I wanted to make my own games because I could not afford to buy them.

C64 :) when I was 5 years old

Apple ][

Casio PB-100 in BASIC

HP-UX

VAX 11/780

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