h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Rather crappy now I have a PC but I still use it. I think the most boring thing is those cartridges you have to put in the side of it but that doesn't make up for the graphics (pixels bigger than your finger). My one doesn't have a floppy disk drive it is only capable of cassette recording and playback. If anyone needs help with BASIC programming language I'll be happy to help.

So what kind of things do you do on your Amstrad?

Oh, in fact I do nothing on it nowadays, it lives in a box in the basement. Since I do programming for a living, I tend to do something not computer-related in my free time. And it helps very much to have two small children to keep busy in the evening...

So you work on computers, what programming languages are popular now because I would like to get into programming but I'm not sure what kind of qualifications I'll need (and I only know how to use BASIC). I've heard computer science is a good thing if that what you want to move on to do in life but at the moment uni sounds too expensive.

Hi Aries,

I'm afraid I have to admit that I work on payroll programs for PC's and Mainframes, most of which is done in COBOL. But I wouldn't recommend to start programming in COBOL, but then I wouldn't recommend BASIC either.

I would think that one of the most useful programming laguages you could learn is (still) C. You see, a lot of other languages are derived from C, such as C++, Java, C#, the whole .NET thingy and others, and you have a C compiler on virtually every computer you come across. See A425846.

Some links: There's a whole project dedicated to programming at A537635. You might also want to have a look at the programmer's corner at A604937.

Computer Science is a great subject if you plan to go to university, but a warning: you have to be really (really!) good in maths to be good in CS, and (at least in Germany) most students who fail, fail because of maths. On the other hand, a degree in CS isn't necessarily a requirement to be a programmer or to work with computers in general. Try to get as much information as possible on potential jobs in this field and the necessary qualifications for them, in your school/job agency/wherever.

Hope this was helpful.

SchrEck Inc.

Thanks for info.

Addendum - I just discovered a rather good article on how to be a programmer at http://samizdat.mines.edu/howto/. Have fun with it!