The first programming language that I learned was GW-BASIC, some time in the late 1980s. We had a laptop-ish Tandy computer at some point, but I’m not sure if it was the first one or if there was another one before it.

Computers used 5 1/4 inch floppy disks.

GW-BASIC had line numbers and GOTO statements, and came with a thick reference book that contained everything there was to know about the language. Line numbers were normally used in increments of 10, so that you could easily insert a missed line between existing lines of code – say, insert line 25 between lines 20 and 30 – without retyping everything that follows. The RENUM command renumbered all the lines back to tidy increments of 10.

I remember making the computer draw circles and lines on the screen.

Esimene programmeerimiskeel, mida ma õppisin, oli GW-BASIC, kunagi 1980-ndate lõpus. Meil oli sülearvuti-laadne Tandy, aga ma ei mäleta, kas see oli esimene või oli enne seda ka mõni muu arvuti.

Arvutid kasutasid 5 1/4 tolliseid flopisid ehk diskette.

GW-BASICus olid reanumbrid ja GOTO kommando. Sellega tuli kaasa paks manuaal, kus oli kogu keel ära kirjeldatud. Reanumbrid suurenesid tavaliselt kümnekaupa. Nii sai kergesti kahe olemasoleva rea vahele uue lisada – näiteks lisada ridade 20 ja 30 vahele uus rida 25 – ilma et peaks kõiki järgnevaid ridu uuesti sisse toksima. RENUM kommando nummerdas kõik read jälle 10-stele sammudele.

Mäletan, kuidas panin arvuti ekraanile ringe ja jooni joonistama.