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Showing posts from October, 2021

'IT' Happened to Me - Part 5

Computer programming is great fun. I enjoy it so much that even now, I spent countless hours trying to solve a particular programming problem, get frustrated when I am not able to understand or implement something in spite of all the possible efforts, and have a very peaceful sleep on the occasions when the challenge is surmounted. Sometimes, I actually feel that I would have been completely lost had computer programming not been invented. What else would I have done? Every few years, there is a theory that computer programming is dead, and that we need not write programs anymore. This is because computer programs themselves would write programs. So, why should humans write programs? However, in spite of code automation in many areas, we still need solid, skillful programmers. With the developments in tools and technologies, I do not know how long this would last. But I truly hope that at least in my lifetime, the joy of writing programs and constantly learning something new should

BASIC Days - 'IT' Happened to Me - Part 4

Learning about computers today is a cakewalk. In fact, parents are constantly 'educated' about the virtues of their children learning 'coding' while the children are still going to school. I think it is not necessary at all, and at an appropriate stage, children who are good at logic would lap up programming skills quite easily. However, when children have started preparing for IIT and NEET in their 6 th standard, how can programming be far away? This sheer madness is quite amusing to say the least. When we started learning about computers, it was not as difficult as our previous generation. That generation learned about FORTRAN and used punched cards and tapes for loading programs. We were luckier than that. We could directly code into a PC. However, the PCs in those days were very primitive. The first computer I used at the institute did not have a hard disk at all. Of course, some of us may shrug this off and equate those PCs with today's Chromebooks. But thos

'IT' Happened to Me - Part 3

When we look back, perhaps most of us realize that there were some moments, which, then did not sound dramatic at all; but ultimately became the turning points of our life. Many times, such moments do not even become turning points. We let them pass. Our lives are that way uneventful, well, in most cases. It is these moments that suddenly take us to unexpected territories. We realize this only in hindsight. Perhaps the most significant moment in my life also arrived completely unexpectedly. I could not have recalled it vividly, either. But since this series makes me pause and think about such moments, it now resounds loud and clear. I have not travelled much within India, so I cannot talk about an equivalent place, but in Pune, we have 'FC Road' (and perhaps Camp). Youngsters throng FC Road every single day. What they do there is immaterial. If you are a teenager, invariably you land up on FC Road from time to time. The buzz is too much to stay away from. It is 'the'