Real Programmers Don't Use Pascal: Difference between revisions

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}}</ref> the article compares and contrasts ''real programmers'', who use punch cards and write programs in [[FORTRAN]] or [[assembly language]], with modern-day "quiche eaters" who use programming languages such as [[Pascal (programming language)|Pascal]] which support [[structured programming]] and impose restrictions meant to prevent or minimize common [[software bug|bug]]s due to inadvertent programming logic errors. Also mentioned are feats such as the inventor of the [[Cray-1]] supercomputer toggling in<ref>''Toggling in'' refers to setting an array of [[toggle switch]]es or rocker switches which supplement program memory</ref> the first operating system for the [[CDC 7600]] through the front panel without notes when it was first powered on.

The next year [[Ed Nather]]’s ''[[The Story of Mel]]'', also known as ''The realest programmer of all'' [[USENET]] posting, extended the theme, as have many subsequent articles,<ref>{{cite journal

| url = http://csdl2.computer.org/persagen/DLAbsToc.jsp?resourcePath=/dl/mags/so/&toc=comp/mags/so/1995/06/s6toc.xml&DOI=10.1109/52.469755

| author = Ian Gorton

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| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20080419225755/http://www.suslik.org/Humour/Computer/Langs/real_prog2.html

| archivedate = 2008-04-19

}}</ref> [[Webcomic|webcomics]]<ref>[http://xkcd.com/378/ REAL programmers] xkcd.com</ref> and in-jokes&mdash;with the alleged defining features of a "Real Programmer" differing with time and place, in the way of the "[[no true Scotsman]]".

The archetypal Real Programmer immortalized in ''The Story of Mel'' is [[Mel Kaye]] of the [[Royal McBee]] Computer Corporation who is immortalised in [[The Story of Mel]], one of the most famous pieces of hacker folklore. As the story famously puts it, "He wrote in machine code—in 'raw, unadorned, inscrutable [[hexadecimal]] numbers. Directly."'

==The Real Programmer in computer folklore==

The term ''Real Programmer'' in [[computer jargon|computer folklore]] has come to describe the archetypical "hardcore" programmer who eschews the modern languages and tools of the day in favour of more direct and efficient solutions—[[low-level programming language|closer to the hardware]].<ref name=Raymond/> The alleged defining features of a "Real Programmer" are extremely subjective, differing with time and place, in the fashion of the "[[no true Scotsman]]" fallacy.

TheSince termthen, ''Real Programmer'' inthe [[computer jargon|computer folklore]] term ''Real Programmer'' has come to describe the archetypical "hardcore" programmer who eschews the modern languages and tools of the day in favour of more direct and efficient solutions—[[low-level programming language|closer to the hardware]].<ref name=Raymond/> The alleged defining features of a "Real Programmer" are extremely subjective, differing with time and place, in the fashion of the "[[no true Scotsman]]" fallacy.

The archetypal Real Programmer is [[Mel Kaye]] of the [[Royal McBee]] Computer Corporation who is immortalised in [[The Story of Mel]], one of the most famous pieces of hacker folklore. As the story famously puts it, "He wrote in machine code—in 'raw, unadorned, inscrutable [[hexadecimal]] numbers. Directly."'

==See also==