here's a fun interview with Matt Godbolt (of Compiler Explorer https://godbolt.org/ ) where he explains how he first learned to program -- first by typing Basic source code listings for games out of magazines into a ZX-Spectrum, then progressing to writing programs in assembly instructions and then assembling them by hand into machine code to enter into the machine as the ZX-Spectrum didn't come with free assembler.

https://corecursive.com/to-the-assembly/