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A comment on Programming languages, operating systems, despair and anger (2009).

Re:Programming languages, operating systems, despair and ang... by tdees40 on Monday June 30, 2014 @05:50PM (#7967953)
I started programming using a copy of vintage 1998ish Visual Basic that my dad had on our computer. I drew a button, and then I clicked it, and I added code that gets run when the button is clicked. That was awesome! I built useful, visual programs in a matter of hours from when I started.

Now, I want to teach a friend, and it's Python + HTML + CSS + JavaScript to get anything cool going. That's a high bar, and a huge part of me misses the sweet simplicity of VB. I can't imagine breaking in today.

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Re:Programming languages, operating systems, despair and ang... by thinkpad20 on Monday June 30, 2014 @10:46PM (#7968924)
The issue is not that you can't do that anymore; it's that the things you (and presumably, your friend) want to do have gotten more complex. That's just a fact of life. It's going to take a lot more effort to write Wolfenstein: The New Order than Wolfenstein 3D.
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