Wednesday, August 27, 2008

In the time of chimpanzees I was a monkey

I have been called an anachronism, with my multiple xterms, emacs and a command-line compiler. Can one really say their productivity is enhanced by IDEs and GUI tools? Not that I don't use these tools on occasion, but my ability to work largely without a mouse enhances my programming experience. I prefer to tell the computer what to do versus asking-- an imperative versus interrogative interface to the capabilities of the system. A now even more dated book on the subject is Neal Stephenson's In the Beginning Was the Command Line.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

What is this blog?

"Capital 'P' Programmer" is dedicated to issues involving what I call "Capital P" computer programmers; that is, programmers who have developed the requisite background and skills to become a proper noun. This is typically, but not limited to, programmers who were programming long before computer science was a discipline, or at least before programmers (note little "p") were coming out of bachelor's degree programs. These Programmers cut their teeth on BASIC for "personal computers", back when a personal computer was a luxury and time on the machine was precious and guarded.

The blog will relate the issues of Programmers and their place in the modern computational landscape. The decision to blog on this issue is due to my aging status as a member of programming teams and my thinking on what choices are "out there" for people like me. Topics are not limited to this realm, but to that of the mind of the Programmer, and what the future for this type of person might be.