I first caught the programming bug reading AlexanderKeewatinDewdney in his regular column in ScientificAmerican, ComputerRecreations. I would try out the algorithms in MS Basic for the Macintosh (the original, 128K, which I used up until 1989) and watch in wonder as various designs appeared (somewhat slowly, as you can imagine) on my screen.

Coding was just a hobby until sometime in the middle of my long college tenure, when I began programming visual displays for behavioral neuroscience work. Realizing I needed help with my code, I picked up SteveMcConnell's book, CodeComplete, from which I gathered that discipline could be introduced into the practice of programming. Following the references and sources in that book was my education in software engineering. Then came object orientation and the DesignPatterns book, and whew! 

MyFavoriteToyProblem is Greg Turk's two-dimensional Turing machines (Dewdney coined them TurMite's), followed closely by the redoubtable ElevatorSimulation.

I work for Real-time Technology Solutions, out of New York, as an automated test engineer and performance analyst.

Allan. mailto:baruz@rttsweb.com

http://radio.weblogs.com/0105058/

I am a Tivotee!
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