[HN Gopher] Forty Years of Programming
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Forty Years of Programming
Author : billiob
Score : 49 points
Date : 2023-10-08 21:55 UTC (1 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (fabiensanglard.net)
(TXT) w3m dump (fabiensanglard.net)
| bobobob420 wrote:
| Only 1 monitor for 40 years? p impressive
| mjoin wrote:
| i'm the same. i don't understand why some fellow programmers
| need multiple monitors: one is already plenty enough for me.
| (i'm using a tiling window manager, switching back and forth
| between different workspaces, having another monitor would
| require moving my head while i can instantly switch to another
| workspace from my fingertips)
| srazzaque wrote:
| +1
|
| I've found that, for me anyway, one centered large monitor
| with enough real estate for your daily tasks is better than N
| smaller monitors. This is even if "total number of pixels" is
| larger on the N-monitor setup.
|
| It's one less decision to make 1000 times a day (which
| monitor should this thing be on?), and reduces neck strain
| resulting from switching your focus between monitors.
| keyle wrote:
| It's been years I have 2 or 3 monitors and I find them annoying
| and mostly a waste of power.
|
| Every now and again I use them as a reference screen against
| something I'm doing, but my neck starts hurting pretty quick.
| Alt-tabbing rocks. They tend to be mostly empty.
|
| Alt-tabbing means improved focus "one thing at a time" too.
|
| I'm thinking to keep a large 32" screen in front of me, ditch
| the side 32" and get a "portable LCD" to put "under" as if my
| keyboard is a laptop and I'd have a laptop screen below my main
| screen. That should be hopefully useful as a reference screen.
|
| Having 2 or 3 of the exact same screen makes no sense to me
| anymore. We're not with 19" CRT Sony trinitron anymore :)
|
| I'm surrounded by a wall of screens and I don't know what to do
| with them (that is useful and not distracting).
| wly_cdgr wrote:
| Doesn't even mention what a legend he is one time, just
| straightforward useful clearly presented info.
|
| Legend.
| pugworthy wrote:
| I too have been programming for 40 years, am in early 60's, and
| amazed that I have no real wrist issues from all that time of
| typing, etc.
|
| I've also been a pretty avid WASD + Mouse gamer for a long time
| as well, and I think gaming probably causes me more issues than
| programming.
| gpspake wrote:
| Ha, I was having wrist pain and I got that same wrist rest. I've
| recommended it to a lot of people. (Although I've never thought
| about cutting one in half for my mouse :)
| moron4hire wrote:
| I've found that changing keyboards between a flat mechanical
| and a Microsoft wave keyboard every 6 months keeps the pain
| away. Don't need anything fancy, just gotta change the exact
| factors of the repetitive motion.
| angarg12 wrote:
| Am I the only one who finds these "I've been programming since 6"
| posts silly? I mean, I used to mess up with computers since I was
| a child, but I wouldn't call that "programming". In fact if I'm
| completely honest, it wasn't until 5 years ago when I truly
| started to learn and grow as an engineer, more than the rest of
| my career combined.
|
| Rather than focused on quantity let's focus on quality. 1 good
| year of experience is worth 10 bad ones.
| actuallyalys wrote:
| I mean, I also mostly "messed around" at that age and didn't
| really consistently program so I probably wouldn't say that
| either. But I wouldn't rule out the possibility that Fabien
| Sanglard did.
| xorcist wrote:
| The one sentence that isn't meaningful to the text, and that's
| the one you wish to comment on?
|
| I started programming a few years later, maybe at 8 or so, but
| I would absolutely call that programming. I still have the note
| pads somewhere. It's nothing to be ashamed of, it's a
| beginner's first steps on a computer that does not exist.
| bmacho wrote:
| > I mean, I used to mess up with computers since I was a child,
| but I wouldn't call that "programming".
|
| Well, he does call programming whatever he did.
|
| In '83 they have sold 5 million computers according to the
| wikipedia[1], I am sure tens of thousands of 6 year olds
| started programming on them.
|
| [1]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_share_of_personal_compu...
| vhodges wrote:
| I've been coding for 42 years (since the age of 13), about 33
| years as a professional developer. I do tend to downplay the
| stuff I did on my own for the first 9-10 years because a lot of
| my peers started then too, but the stuff since late '89/early
| '90 counts.
|
| More relevant to the post, I have had some pain in the past,
| mostly neck/shoulder from the monitor not being high enough,
| but some finger pain too (tendinitis - even before mice use was
| prevalent), switching to a vertical mouse has helped to reduce
| it quite a bit. The mouse I use currently
|
| https://www.logitech.com/en-ca/products/mice/lift-vertical-e...
| keyle wrote:
| I don't think it's silly, I like to see "how" people work.
|
| The author is not uninteresting. His experience is far greater
| than most. You should browse his blog and you'll find you'll
| learn plenty.
|
| Not every post has to be about something extraordinary. We're
| all aging together. He wasn't boasting his programming
| experience onto the viewers.
| [deleted]
| rco8786 wrote:
| Feels like weird gatekeeping. Doesn't count as "quality" unless
| you're doing it full time as a career?
| booleandilemma wrote:
| I almost always see it as a red flag. When I hear someone irl
| say it I interpret it as a sort of clout hack.
|
| "I've been programming since I was six years old so listen to
| me when I say we should use mongoDB".
| spacedcowboy wrote:
| Mmm. I've been programming since 11. When I built my first
| computer (back then), it was soldering components to a PCB, not
| plugging a thing-that-only-goes-in-one-way into slots/sockets
| #1, #2, #3 etc.
|
| So I guess I've been programming for longer than him, despite
| starting several years later in life. What "programming" means
| has changed a lot over the years though, I'll say that much.
| saulpw wrote:
| The post is about his environment and computing setup. It has
| nothing to do with programming. The title and first sentence
| only mention that he's been programming since he was 6 to give
| context for his long-term computing use and how his life and
| computing setup have evolved.
| meiraleal wrote:
| Have you had the opportunity to compare two 20 years old
| developers one with 10 years of experience and another with 2?
| bcrosby95 wrote:
| I'm not sure why it would be silly. I started playing baseball
| when I was 6, and if I continued to this day I would say I've
| been playing for 38 years.
| nemetroid wrote:
| It's an extremely small part of the post.
| dboreham wrote:
| Some people actually did program when children, as opposed to
| "messing around".
| StopHammoTime wrote:
| Same on the wrist. I have one of those mice with a trackball on
| top that you use by running your hand over it. Absolute game
| changer and not at all difficult to work (probably even more
| sensitive tbh).
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