# Any Programmers Here?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-programmers-here/52859
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [February 2, 2001, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-programmers-here/52859 "2001-02-02T14:14:42Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Bumbazine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbazine)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2001, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-programmers-here/52859/21 "2001-02-02T16:59:24Z")
Way back in the day I learned:
COBOL
Fortran
Basic
Assembler
RPG
However, for 25 years I’ve made my living writing various flavors of RPG on IBM midrange computers. Currently RPG III and RPG IV (and a little RPG ILE) on an AS/400 620e.
I’ve also recently gotten to play with Active Server Pages, using VB script and Java script to write HTML pages on the fly for the company website. That was fun.
Now my employer wants me to become a Progress programmer.
Hmmmm…
---
### Author:  [@Pyrrho12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyrrho12)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2001, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-programmers-here/52859/22 "2001-02-02T17:25:59Z")
English teacher by day, programmer during my mid-afternoon break. Pascal is my language of choice but to be honest with you all my best work was probably done in C64 BASIC when I was twelve… ☹
---
### Author:  [@Lowellster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lowellster)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2001, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-programmers-here/52859/23 "2001-02-02T21:02:34Z")
**Languages I know, should know, or have known:**
C/C++
BASIC
COBOL
RPG (III)
VMS Assembler
LISP (Lost In a Sea of Parentheses)
Pascal
HTML + Cold Fusion
SQL
VB
Seems like I’m forgetting something, but those are the ones that come to mind.
**Languages I have used in the last 5 years:**
VB and Cold Fusion
---
### Author:  [@bashere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bashere)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2001, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-programmers-here/52859/24 "2001-02-02T21:35:36Z")
hmm…how 'bout if I just list the ones I’ve been paid to program in, most recent to oldest:
Java
PL/SQL
Object Pascal
C++/C
x86 Assembly
( and the ones I am deeply ashamed of )
InstallShield
dBase III+/IV ( hey, it was production code and I was paid to do it. It counts ).
The installshield stuff was an unfortunate detour. Actually, so was the object pascal and the PL/SQL. You know, not that I think of it, the whole thing was a bad idea…
I’ve written production code in perl and Unix shell scripting languages, but those were never my primary focus. I can really only fake x86, and I took a FORTRAN class once, and could probably still manage it. Most of what I’ve written has been for WinTel environments (DOS, 3.1, 95, 98 and NT); a smaller amount for unix enviroments.
Are we listing tool kits and APIs, too? X11R4, Win 3.1 and 95 SDK and MFC, some posix, EJB, java servelets. There are more, but I’m drawing a blank.
---
### Author:  [@RalfCoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RalfCoder)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2001, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-programmers-here/52859/25 "2001-02-02T22:04:29Z")
Oh, man, some of you sound like kids. Or else I must be the old fart… I started learning to code in high school. Well, not really coding… (Ralf hangs his head in shame) I… I wired control panels for unit record equipment. Can anyone say “gray iron”? No? Sigh… Does anyone out there even know who Herman Hollerith was? How about Amazing Grace? Any one? Never mind, pass the Serutan.
I’ve coded in COBOL, RPG, NEAT/3, IBM Assembler, a little bit of Basic, DYL260, DYL280, and PL/1. I use JCL daily, and am fluent, but to me it’s not really a language, any more than DOS. I learned Fortran back when I had to punch my code in real live punched cards. I’ve learned SQL, some HTML, and VB more recently, but don’t use them a lot. I did learn SAS from the SAS institute once, and can do a little bit with it, but IMHO it’s such a non-intuitive language that I still struggle with it. I do need to use it more, though, and I’m struggling through one of their manuals to get more familiar. Let me tell you, a SAS Institute tech manual is capable of making a Klingon dictionary look like a real page turner. Yawn…
But to this coder, the Mother Of All Languages is PL/1. Concise, powerful, intuitive… PL/1 rocks.
---
### Author:  [@Narile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Narile)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2001, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-programmers-here/52859/26 "2001-02-02T22:07:34Z")
Hmmmmm, not technically a pure programmer of late, but my current list is in order of last used.
LabView (Heavy)
C
REXX
C++
Rebol
Java
Forth
Pascal
RPG (III)
Assembler
---
### Author:  [@TWTCommish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWTCommish)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2001, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-programmers-here/52859/27 "2001-02-02T22:21:27Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by RalfCoder \*
> **Oh, man, some of you sound like kids. Or else I must be the old fart**
Heck, let’s include our ages here, too. $5 (well, not really) to the first person who can guess mine. 😃
---
### Author:  [@Spiritus\_Mundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiritus_Mundi)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2001, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-programmers-here/52859/28 "2001-02-02T22:28:50Z")
except for systems scripting (ksh, awk, perl, sed). Back when I did:
**languages I actually got paid for**
C/C[sup]++[/sup]
javascript
Embedded sql
Assembler (MIPS, motorolla)
Various crappy microsoft compatible database packages.
**Languages I wrote things in at school and promptly purged**
FORTRAN
Pascal
Lisp
Prolog
Ada
Cobol
RPG III
basic
---
### Author:  [@Bumbazine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbazine)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2001, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-programmers-here/52859/29 "2001-02-03T03:13:23Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by RalfCoder \*
> Does anyone out there even know who Herman Hollerith was? How about Amazing Grace? Any one? Never mind, pass the Serutan
::Bumbazine, sitting quietly in the back, hesitently holds his hand up::
I used to be able to _read_ hollerith cards, and I know who Grace Hopper was.
Pleased ta meetcha’ Ralf. Actually, there,s a lot more old farts on this board than you realize.
[sub]heh, heh, wheeze[/sub]
---
### Author:  [@Bill\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_H)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2001, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-programmers-here/52859/30 "2001-02-03T07:13:31Z")
I’m afraid I’ve dumbed down to management these last years, but I’m still an occasional bit jockey. Ways I’ve made bucks:
C (especially kernel/device drivers)
Z80 Asm (for CP/M on a Kaypro)
x86 Asm
68k Asm for Palm Pilot
Java/C++
Forth (wrote my own complete kernel on a TRS-80)
Worked a bit with Perl, LISP, VB, but none enough to really do any damage
---
### Author:  [@Blackclaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackclaw)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2001, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-programmers-here/52859/31 "2001-02-03T17:38:25Z")
I develop stuff in Lotus Notes, so most my experience is in Notes Formula language. I’ve also had to use Java and C++ for a few small projects.
---
### Author:  [@vandal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vandal)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2001, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-programmers-here/52859/32 "2001-02-03T19:20:39Z")
Not too many langauges here, just the main ones.
Perl.
JavaScript.
Visual Basic.
Java.
And, if I have a code reference, C++.
---
### Author:  [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2001, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-programmers-here/52859/33 "2001-02-03T19:37:19Z")
You know what a ‘floor sort’ is.
You know who a ‘tape ape’ is.
You know what ‘green bar’ paper is.
And you still prefer it for reading code.
You’ve ever written a ‘virus’ for a chain printer that causes the paper to break in the middle.
---
### Author:  [@cykrider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cykrider)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2001, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-programmers-here/52859/34 "2001-02-03T21:01:03Z")
I’m in training as well. I’m best with C++, but I know Pascal, Javascript, a bit of assembly, and some VB. Right now I’m trying to better understand assembly and Flash’s action script (which isn’t too hard).
---
### Author:  [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2001, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-programmers-here/52859/35 "2001-02-04T00:43:59Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by RalfCoder \*
> Sigh… Does anyone out there even know who Herman Hollerith was?
\
“Next day he was buried,
Face down, nine-edge first.”
\
You wouldn’t believe the fits I’ve had lately, trying to convince people that the plural of “chad” is _just “chad”_, no matter what the d@#% talking heads say.
---
### Author:  [@eBathory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eBathory)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2001, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-programmers-here/52859/36 "2001-02-04T03:56:28Z")
Hi, I don’t really post but I am a programmer and read the boards a lot. I currently do a lot of ASP, VBScript, Javascript, dhtml, Java/JSP, SQL… general e-commerce stuff. In school: a lot of C/C++ and VB with some Lisp and Prolog thrown in. In my free time I like to play around with different games in VB and used to do a lot of perl at one time.
---
### Author:  [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2001, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-programmers-here/52859/37 "2001-02-04T07:01:39Z")
I’m one! C, C++, VB, PL/SQL…
---
### Author:  [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2001, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-programmers-here/52859/38 "2001-02-04T07:30:45Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by RalfCoder \*
> \*\*But to this coder, the Mother Of All Languages is PL/1. Concise, powerful, intuitive… PL/1 rocks. \*\*
Egads… I’m used to being the only one who can pull out PL/1 when the “which languages you know” discussion comes up. It’s too bad it didn’t really catch on. It’s at least as sophisticated as Pascal, but not nearly as annoying. And it beats the hell out of COBOL. The really disturbing thing is that I only learned PL/1 2 years ago.
---
### Author:  [@JimOfAllTrades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimOfAllTrades)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2001, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-programmers-here/52859/39 "2001-02-04T08:39:02Z")
15 year IBM Midrange guy here, with more and more PC work lately.
I’ve used (in no particular order):
Basic
Turbo C
RPG III
RPG IV/400
RPG ILE (very little)
Sys/36 OCL
AS/400 CL
SYS/36 Assembler (did lots of assembler work on the 36)
Visual Basic
Clarion for Dos 2 and 3
Clarion for Windows 2, 4, 5 and 5.5
Fortran (very little)
Cobol (very little)
I’ve used Hollerith cards (in a college course on Fortran my buddy was taking), and know who Admiral Grace Hopper was.
Currently, most of my work is in RPG/400 for various AS/400s my customers own. (My biggest customer has a 720e, which is one fast mother box. It’s easy to get spoiled, I hate going back to my own development machine, a much smaller (and older) box.)
For PC development, we’re using Clarion for Windows whenever possible (which is to say unless the customer specifies something else).
Ugly
---
### Author:  [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2001, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-programmers-here/52859/40 "2001-02-04T23:42:14Z")
Another keyboard pounder here.
**On a daily basis, I use**
SQL (T-SQL)
HTML (yeah, yeah, I know)
Perl
**Other languages that I am familiar with**
Visual Basic
C++
VBA
**Currently doing research on and learning**
ASP
XML
Zev Steinhardt
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-programmers-here/52859.md?page=1)
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-programmers-here/52859.md?page=3)