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→Programmer portraits: What have these six men got in common? A TI, for one thing.
Except, perhaps, for braininess, computer programmers haven't had many common qualities attributed to them by popular culture yet. And interviews with a group of programmers across the country (one in Canada) show them to be as diverse as the programs they write.
=='''GETTING STARTED'''==
The decision to become a program mer came after experience using a computer for most of those interviewed.
"In 1980 I got a TI computer for $1,000. I knew what I wanted to do at that point."
=='''WHY TI?'''==
Economy was one reason.
He says that when the TI made the "big drop down to $500 that's when I got it. It was such a bargain. The primary reason I got it was I'm a programmer and I wanted to do my own programming."
Hughes notes that TI BASIC is theonly home computer BASIC thatmeets the American National StandardsInstitute standards for minimalBASIC. He also cited TlTI's guaranteeand the company's "excellent reputationfor reliable hardware." ==SHAKESPEARETHE PROGRAMMER?== What is it like in this relatively newfield? Could there be, for instance, asimilarity between a struggling youngwriter and a struggling youngprogrammer?
"You have to be creative in both
fields," Lannie pointed out, a view
