Quote:
Originally Posted by dmatre
Learned programming (FORTRAN, COBOL, etc)
in HS using punch cards. Computer was actually across the state at a state university.
Two rules:
- don't drop the stack of punch cards
- don't program so that the software gets into a loop. If you did, the teacher had to call the university and have them restart the computer - wrecking the projects of every other HS and college student running their projects at the time. Only happened once that I know of, and wasn't me in the hot seat.
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I came in just after the punch card reader had been pushed to the back of the lab and covered with a tarp. We had brand new terminals with modems that I think were 1800 baud. And a green-bar tractor feed printer that we used to make big ASCII art banners. Somehow our shitty math teachers managed not to ruin the fun of programming, at least for me. Still pounding out code, 40+ years later.