From: Colin Bartlett Date: 2009-12-04T20:14:10+09:00 Subject: Re: Graphics mode On Thu, Dec 3, 2009 at 4:25 PM, Rick DeNatale wrote: > ... > Don't feel so old, I got my BS in CompSci 35 years ago, Fortran, PL/I, > Lisp, Snobol..., punch cards, paper tapes, teletypes. > > I don't know if Pascal even existed then. Apparently it did: "designed in 1968/9 and published in 1970 by Niklaus Wirth": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal_(programming_language) (And I was (still) using it for my home use in 2007.) Which gives me an opportunity to say something I've been meaning to say for one or two years, that I very much enjoyed your "About me" http://talklikeaduck.denhaven2.com/2006/07/29/about-me One thing that interests me is why people - for reasonable reasons - decide to use one thing rather than another and later use something else, so I'm interested when you say: "But for me right now, while I wouldn't be unhappy if I had to go back to Smalltalk, but I feel happier with Ruby." http://talklikeaduck.denhaven2.com/2008/05/21/what-would-you-miss-if-you-had-to-stop-using-ruby-and-go-back-to-smalltalk (And I'm interested in the views of people who are "happier" with Smalltalk, Python, etc.) On a potentially dangerous topic, not least because of: http://www.phespirit.info/montypython/four_yorkshiremen.htm (especially because this is a Ruby list!) as part of my BA Maths degree: a one term course in computer programming in 1970 in Algol 60 (or maybe 68) using punched cards. And in 1974: actuarial exams using slide rules and log tables; calculating premium tables using using Facit hand calculators and electric (*not* electronic) calculators! (We started using the first - mains electric powered - electronic calculators not long afterwards.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Calculator_facit_hg.jpg One thing I liked about Algol (in retrospect - I didn't know enough to appreciate it in 1970) was that instead of: if v < 0 then x = -v else x = v you could do something like: x := if v < 0 then -v else v and something I liked very much about Ruby when I found out about it in 2002 or 2003 was you could do that in Ruby. Some full example Algol code: http://www.engin.umd.umich.edu/CIS/course.des/cis400/algol/average.html *Really off-topic* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calculator http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marchant_Calculator One thing (just before my time) people used to do with electric calculators like the Marchant was to set the digits spinning and then switch it off with the aim that when the digits finally stopped spinning it would be all "9"s! Of course, one could simulate that game, but would the simulation be the same? (Maybe at least less resource intensive: those old calculators were heavy.)