The latest articles on Forem by John Allen (@johnnyallen). https://forem.com/johnnyallen https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F3681352%2F6827494e-3224-4c01-aec6-280e39a110ec.jpg https://forem.com/johnnyallen en John Allen Sun, 28 Dec 2025 16:46:34 +0000 https://forem.com/johnnyallen/remember-micro-soft-1ih3 https://forem.com/johnnyallen/remember-micro-soft-1ih3 <p>The first time I programmed a computer was in Microsoft BASIC back in the late 1970s—when the company was still called Micro-Soft. Fast forward to today, and here I am, writing my first post on DEV.to… and honestly, I’m a little frightened.</p> <p>Why? Because I’ve always worked for end users, not in developer communities. My conversations about programming were usually met with yawns or polite excuses to do something else. I never attended university, so I have no formal qualifications, and I suspect many of you use terminology I won’t be familiar with—even if I’ve written code that does something similar.</p> <p>So why am I here?<br> Because I love to learn. I’ve spent years solving real-world problems with code, and now I’d like to discover how others approach the same challenges, pick up the right terminology, and maybe contribute something useful along the way.</p> <p><a href="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2F9zebyw2eg8owmxz6vkds.png" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2F9zebyw2eg8owmxz6vkds.png" alt="Here I am in the school computer room, writing Microsoft BASIC on a terminal connected to a custom built machine. This was my first taste of programming—and yes, the company was still called Micro-Soft back then!" width="800" height="533"></a></p> <p>What advice would you give someone who’s starting to share their experience after years of coding in isolation?</p> programming nostalgia