Hacker News Reader

Comment by cliffaust | Hacker News Reader

I remember when I started learning coding, and didn't have a computer. I literally used to use my phone to write code - terrible experience, but I was determined

View on HN

I wrote C with a compiler running on my Palm Pilot well before smartphones existed yet

Luckily I think in this day and age it’d be more viable and not as miserable as an experience - dare I say more accessible

You can connect an external keyboard to your phone and if you can swing getting a cheap IPS panel that displays text clearly enough, you’d have a working set up

Anyway, kudos to you, I love reading stories about determination

I remember having some kind of a shell app on my iPod Touch in college and needing to run and find wifi a few times to troubleshoot something at a job I was student working at.

They were fun times :D

I remember when I started learning coding. I didn't have the Internet. It was also terrible and I was also determined.

When I started learning coding I had to write my C code on paper and have it sent by mule to the nearby city where the only computer in the area existed. Only a week later I would hear back the result of my programs.

I vaguely recall a service in the 90's where you'd write HTML on paper and mail it to them and they would make a website for you...

I assume you’re joking, but I have a Cuban acquaintance who actually did something like this. He did everything on paper and even won a national coding competition without ever having actually used a computer. Of course, as soon as he had the opportunity to leave Cuba, he left for good.

Imagine doing that on a time share system through a rotary phone...

It wasn't coding, but tech support...I was on vacation from my law office IT job. All I had was my PalmPilot, the clip-on modem, and my sister's landline phone system. I spent 2-3 hours one day exchanging email with my firm's law librarian (the only other semi-technical person in the firm) troubleshooting some odd network problem. We got it done, but it was torture, tapping out messages with the Palm's stylus.

When I started learning coding, we had to run 50 kilometers through dense jungle, fight Jaguars and jump over snakes, to get to the only computer in the region. I saw a lot of friends die during the daily journey. The teacher was a shaman too, very knowledgeable on C. He would teach us rituals and stuff.

That's cute! I had to cross the Darién in both directions to get there!

Reply on news.ycombinator.com