Entered my first program into a computer using an IBM Model 29 card punch. It was in COBOL. Also did some in Fortran, RPG II and NCR's NEAT-3, Level II (kind of an assembler). Then on to BASIC for a while.

First personal computer was an IMSAI 8080 tied to a TV Typewriter and an LA36 Decwriter terminal (high living in those days - the LA36 cost more than I've spent since on any computer system). Soldered my own 48K static RAM board.

In the 1980s I ran a bookstore and did a bit of digital test fixture design with some Apple II educational software on the side. Hacked Apple II main boards for a museum arcade game I wrote.

In the 1990s it was game programming. Super Nintendo and PCs. Specialty algorithms and optimizations. Discovered Perl - my fave fun language - at the end of the decade while working on online banking software.

In 2000 I started with build engineering, SCM administration (Perforce) and shell scripting (also fun). Spent 2012 mostly practicing my woodworking skills and traveling. Went back to scripting in the fall of 2012, as a contractor (Bash, Cmake, some Perl). I find it suits me.