From Seed to Binary Tree
A country boy, that always found technology fascinating. I grow up in
the late 1970s and early 1980s, with a Commodore 64 as my best friend.
More than playing games, I found programming the C64 much more enjoyable.
Learning several strains of Basic, as well as Forth, Cobol and Assembly.
Secondary school bought a new town to live in, and new technology, an
Atari 520STFM. In this time too, came my first PC, an Amstrad 1640 with
dual 51⁄4" floppy drives! These computers bought with
them new opportunities and languages, amongst them, C and C+. It's
during this period, I knew I'd become a programmer: after all, I
understood computers better than I understood my peers.
My late teens were spent at college, doing several computer studies
courses. This collimated with a BTEC National, my gateway in to my desired
profession. The time at college taught me many things, giving me a good
foundation. It included me learning to build custom PCs; adding Pascal
and C++ the my list of languages; and, gave me my experience of writing
my first two commercial software systems.
Always a Country Boy
There was a time before computers. Even after getting a Commodore 64,
I was already set to the country way of life. Spending many days on a farm,
or walking for hours. Exploring the countryside, investigating the rivers,
and getting lost in the nearby forest.
Animals have also been a part of my up bringing. Dogs, lots of them, with
my family. Cattle on the farm, and later sheep too. And, of course, wildlife:
fox cubs playing in a wheat field on a spring morning, and deer bounding over
hedges in a single leap. Looking closely, you may have seen an Adder hiding
in the leaf litter; will have seen bugs and insects going about their daily
business.
Even after all these years later, now living in a town, I find the draw
to nature still very strong.
