Beginning Programming ALL-IN-ONE DESK REFERENCE FOR DUMMIES®

About the Author

I started off as a writer and wound up becoming a computer programmer. Then I wound up circling around again to become a writer about computers. I've spent most of my life writing about and programming a variety of personal computers ranging from an ancient PC running MS-DOS 1.25 to Windows XP PC to the latest Macintosh computer running Mac OS X Leopard. My only preference for any computer is to use one that works.

I first learned about programming from my high school's ancient teletype terminal that connected to a mainframe computer through a 300 baud acoustic modem that often disconnected me in the middle of my BASIC programming sessions. At the time, I didn't know much about programming. I just taught myself BASIC from a book and illegally gained access to the teletype terminal by using somebody else's password. Later in the year, I actually signed up for a computer class and finally gained legitimate access to the teletype terminal to do everything I had been doing illegally long before.

The first time I wrote a BASIC program on my own, it was a game that simulated flying a nuclear-armed bomber through a variety of anti-aircraft defenses including surface-to-air missiles and jet fighters trying to shoot you down. When this program worked for the first time, I felt like Dr. Frankenstein watching his creation twitch and come to life. To this day, I still experience that same feeling of exhilaration in creating something from an idea and turning it into an actual ...