I started work as a systems programmer in 1972, writing assembly code for a machine with 56k words of memory. The operating system was loaded from paper tape! In 1974 I finished my Physics PhD but I stayed on in IT and have worked in a wide range of environments since then. I have used a number of different database technologies - IDMS, Oracle, SQL Server and, latterly, MySQL. I have also programmed in a wide variety of languages ranging from various assembly languages, Algol 60, Fortran and Cobol, to VB, Java, VB.Net, and, recently, JavaScript. Technically, I am now retired, but I completed an MSc in Bioinformatics in 2011 and am still involved in scientific programming.