Software Development

At some point in the last 20+ years, I have been an expert (or at least professionally proficient) in Golang, PHP, Python, Perl, Ruby, C#, VB.NET, Arduino C/C++, Classic ASP, PCRE (and other regex flavors), SQL (MySQL and MSSQL/T-SQL), Bash, BASIC, HTML, CSS, Javascript, Actionscript, Flex.

Life in the 80s

I first learned to code in BASIC on a RadioShack/Tandy TRS-80 (circa 1979) that I bought at a thrift shop the age 13. Due to my rather humble beginnings, this was the best I could afford. Writing my first few programs opened up a world of infinite possibilities for me. In the tangible world, you’re limited by resources like money, physical storage space, having to clean up your room, etc, but in the digital world your creativity can run wild. Your intangible creations can grow in complexity and completeness continuously and you never “run out of code” (although I did run out of audio cassette tapes to save my code to 😅).

Initially I wrote utilities to assist me in managing servers and network equipment, since very little was automated in the 90s. I eventually started writing web applications and other software professionally in the early 2000s and I have been doing it ever since (in parallel with many other things).

Learning to express logic in the language of software at a young age prepared me very well for the world. Problem solving, logical deduction and critical thinking are more important than almost all other traits (interpersonal communications, empathy and objectivity are also near the top).

If you have never been exposed to code, I would strongly encourage you to give it a try! Find something in your life that could be made easier by automation and commit yourself to solving or improving it with code. When you are finished, you can then step back and determine if it was a fruitful effort.

Steve Kamerman

COO @scientiamobile