[kodr]

Agreed. you have to start somewhere. I started with GW Basic. I didn't have access to a better compiler at the time, but I was able to do stuff. Later, a friend gave me a Pascal compiler, then I learnt C/C++.

It's a lot easier nowaday, with internet and interpreted language in your browser.

[nmjohn]

Oh man, this is the first time I've ever heard someone else reference GW basic.

When I was 10 or so I convinced my parents to let me put the ibm 286, which previously was sitting in their closet, in my bedroom. (At the time we had a newer computer with windows 98, this would have been just before XP would be released iirc)

GW basic on that 286 was where I taught myself the basics of programming. That takes me back.

[kodr]

Nice :)

I had an even older computer, a Tandy 1000. I had to boot MS Dos 6.2 with a 5"1/4 floppy disk. GW Basic was kinda the only thing I could do. Later, my father got me QBasic, which was nice since I didn't have to input each line numbers :p