I learned to code on MK-52. It was fairly cheap and accessible by the time i have got my hands on it.

After programming (and patching) in hex codes, any other programming language seems fairly simple.

And on the back of MK-52 there was a potentiometer you could use to overclock it.

I did not know the trick of re-soildering the BRP jumper though.

Ah, good times.