I've been programming since I was 8. I started with Apple Basic, then Timex Sinclair (ZX-81 at the time) Basic. After that I discovered the list of op-codes next to the ASCII chart in my ZX-81 manual. I began to compile my own hand-lettered sheets that put all the addressing modes of a given instruction in the same place so I could more easily handle-assemble small machine language programs.

It's gone on from there. The learning never ends.

Currently I do most of my programming in Python and C++ on Linux. I have a strong preference for Open Source software.

I've noticed that this site tends to have a slight bias for existing members. Members with a higher reputation tend to be voted up more even if their answer is very similar to someone else's with a lower reputation.