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Ray Cassick wrote:
that you can't be good in computers unless you are good in math.
Depends. Every programmer must be good at least in some math: Boolean algebra, basics of set theory, etc. Then there may be a need for more depending on specifics of programmer's job. Ie, in the beginning of my career I used numerical analysis, later computational geometry, and these days some statistics and probability (admitedly, not much  ) Math is a tool, like everything else, and having another tool in your pocket can never hurt.
My programming blahblahblah blog. If you ever find anything useful here, please let me know to remove it.
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I learned how to program in a single university extension course. Before that, I was a litigation attorney. All that schooling and almost none of it had any relevance to my current life.
Tom Clement
Serena Software, Inc.
www.serena.com
articles[^]
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Went through high school and professional high, and now doing my B.Sc in Software Engineering.. So far, I've pretty much self-taught myself everything I've ever needed. The teachers and the classes aren't worth much, since due to time constraints, they can't teach anything specific or in-detail, thus I have to learn it all myself..
-Antti Keskinen
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"If we wrote a report stating we saw a jet fighter with a howitzer, who's going to believe us ?"
-- R.A.F. pilot quote on seeing a Me 262 armed with a 50mm Mauser cannon.
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Christian Graus wrote:
Self taught, all the way
I dropped out of high school
I assume after you learned how to read. And yes I could read before High School also. 
I do not mind getting old. It beats all the other options that I can think of.
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I had 5 "careers" prior to discovering computers. Then
numerous years in the field prior to discovering
"programming". All self taught, on the job, when I was
past 30. No home computers for me when I was growing up
 But in code I found a home. Still, I often wondered
if my friends that had their computer science degrees
had more "depth". The best programmers I have met
were engineers turned programmer. And the best sys
admin was a Astro Physicist.
I have a question to suggest to the poll: how many
editors have you used? How many languages have your
learned (I include shell scripting)?
Has anyone here ever uses a character editior on a
Silent 700? Or even know what a character editor is?
(War stories )
WedgeSoft
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c64 here.
not too relevant to todays technology. although it did endear a love for the "goto" statement.
I remember the punch card / tape systems my father developed on, that filled an entire room.
/bb|[^b]{2}/
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C64..XT...
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination." - Albert Einstein
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If you had a 386, you were "the bomb". Most of our computers in high school were 286's or 8088's that had dual floppy drives and no hard disk.
Fortunatley, Turbo Pascal fit on one floppy, which left you a second to store your programs. 
The generation of random numbers is too important to be left to chance.
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And the Turbo Technojocks Toolkit fit on another. Memory lane...
cheers,
Chris Maunder
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Technology is not the only part of your job, even if you're a programmer.
English and Maths also very important. I also did more advanced maths in university, but never needed it for my job - just the simple stuff from secondry school was enough.
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BBCs! Ah - they were the days
(Am I dating myself here?  )
cheers,
Chris Maunder
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The programming class I had in high school was in cobal, using punched cards. We had to send the stack to the community college to see if it would compile/run.
Jim
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We had an 'old school' server room and green TTY terminals EVERYWHERE  There were even 2 braille paper terminals that were combination printers(indenters?) and keyboards. I used to stare in awe at those giant drive platers in the clear plastic canister.
It was as close as I would ever get to the W.O.P.E.R. from WarGames[^] without all the blinking lights.
The year after I graduated High School they "upgraded" to 286's.
All the sexyness was gone
[ Jason De Arte | Toy Maker | 1001010.com ]
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I can relate to the entire room computers for sure. The first computer I got to touch in high school was a Bendix G-15. I remember having to reseat some of the circuit boards plugged in all around this refrigerator sized thing.
Take a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bendix_G-15
Of course using the G-15 was better than using the remote computer using the 110 baud (yes that number has no K anywhere near it) acoustic coupler.
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Tandy at Elementary, an apple in middle school, and at home......
Heath/Zenith home kit computer running CPM....
And for fun... TI 99-4A.
--
"The money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its rule by preying upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is concentrated in a few hands and the Republic destroyed."
-- Abraham Lincoln
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Vic20
C64
Comodore PET
TRS80
ZX80
AppleII
Apple Lisa (yes I actually used one for a few weeks)
George Carlin wrote:
"Don't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things."
Jörgen Sigvardsson wrote:
If the physicists find a universal theory describing the laws of universe, I'm sure the a**hole constant will be an integral part of that theory.
My Blog[^]
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I did QBasic, Turbo Pascal, and C++ in high school. I graduated in '98, tho.
Michael Flanakin
Web Log
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Z80 and XT.
Working on the XT was outstanding, exciting, making your heart thump ... even if I could not understand why would you have files and folders (Z80 background)
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I'm still rather young, so we had full-blown Pentium 2 Pro computers with all the flavors.. Too bad that very often we ended up playing Quake because the lessons weren't very interesting (due to us knowing so lot, and the teacher being a complete laugh in programming)
-Antti Keskinen
----------------------------------------------
"If we wrote a report stating we saw a jet fighter with a howitzer, who's going to believe us ?"
-- R.A.F. pilot quote on seeing a Me 262 armed with a 50mm Mauser cannon.
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Since I went to LAUSD schools in the 80s. the highest-tech thing we had were typewriters with a "return" key instead of a manual lever.
At home I got a handed down VIC-20 from my uncle, then later got a C=64 and got proficient in BASIC (fun fact: the BASIC interpreter was written by MS).
--Mike--
Visual C++ MVP 
LINKS~! Ericahist | 1ClickPicGrabber | CP SearchBar v2.0.2 | C++ Forum FAQ
Strange things are afoot at the U+004B U+20DD
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MadHatter ¢ wrote:
what computers were around when you were in HS?
My trusty abacus and slide rule worked fine! I was always rather slow on the abacus however. 
I do not mind getting old. It beats all the other options that I can think of.
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I bought a Pentium II 266 MHz with about 64 MB of RAM when I was in high school, back in 97. I graduated from high school in 99.
-- LuisR
Luis Alonso Ramos
Intelectix - Chihuahua, Mexico
Not much here: My CP Blog!
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My first computer was a Vic20. But not in High School.
That was after I was 30. And the first I could afford.
I saw my first digital display in the Navy and learned
Boolean algebra to help with circuit boards (with
transistors!) (more war stores )
WedgeSoft
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Well being that I graduated High School in the late 80s. I can say I had a c64 and possibly an xt.
John
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This is a really good question, but what if, like me, University [was] only a mere dream. A zero score maybe?
I Dream of Absolute Zero
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