[leibniz76]

One thing I like about programming is that you get to see the value of the variables as you progress through the algorithm. I talked to one programmer who said that they did not get an editor until 1982, by editor I mean the pop-out box where you get to see the value of the variables as things move along. I think programming without an editor would be next to impossible. If there are any old-timers here maybe they could share with us their experience of what it was like before editors came along.

[macosxnerd101]

Quote

by editor I mean the pop-out box where you get to see the value of the variables as things move along.

Many folks use editors other than full-blown IDEs with debuggers. Lots of folks are big fans of Notepad++ and such.

[jon.kiparsky]

Both of the editors were originally written in 1976, so they've been around for a long time - certainly longer than most of the people on this site.
What you're describing is not an editor, it's something else entirely - it's called an "IDE", which is mistakenly derived from "Integrated Development Environment". (this is a mistaken derivation, because of course any POSIX-compliant OS is an integrated development environment, and IDEs manifestly are not)

[rusoaica]

Well, i remember the days about 15 years ago when i was creating electronic blueprints for logical gates circuits and yes, there was no 'IDE' for that, nor you could see the values of the 'variables', unless you would have created another electronic equipment for testing boolean values. All we had back in the day was a piece of paper, a roller pen and lots of imagination. You had to work at bit-level design and keep track of the 0's and 1's flow using your sole mind
The question in not about the '70s or '80s, its about the days of Ada Lovelace (the first computer programmer) or Grace Murray Hopper (the woman that created the first compiler). THATS what means programming without any editor, directly in Machine Code.

[baavgai]

leibniz76, on 08 October 2014 - 09:48 PM, said:

by editor I mean the pop-out box where you get to see the value of the variables as things move along.

So... by editor you don't mean editor at all?

leibniz76, on 08 October 2014 - 09:48 PM, said:

I talked to one programmer who said that they did not get an editor until 1982

This is interesting. The IBM PC, the great granddaddy of what you're most likely sitting at now, shows up in 1981. So, before the PC, no "editor?"

What was that "editor?" I'm honestly curious as to what counts in 1982. If you want to talk IDE history, I would have nominated Borland's Turbo Pascal as being an early influence, released in 1983. However, you could write a program, run it, and view it's state in BASIC, circa 1964. So, what's the first according to your "one programmer?"

[depricated]

I talked with a guy who claimed to have worked at a bank doing data processing programming on punchcards. I don't have a reason to disbelieve him, but I don't have a reason to believe him either, he's not someone I know, just a friend of my mentor (which might be reason to believe him, come to think of it). But he recounted that he worked 3rd shift punching commands in via punchcard, and during the day the commands would be run. Results would be recorded and when he came in the next night he would make necessary adjustments based on the days results.

Again, this was someone I don't really know at all, but it sounds believable. Seems like a really painful way to debug - I love Visual Studios QuickWatch all the more for stories like this heh.

[DarenR]

It was very BASIC

[BenignDesign]

I don't appreciate being referred to as an "oldtimer". I still use Notepad++ for all my coding. If I want to know what number I'm getting from a formula, I'll do the math with sample data (amazing, right? The calculation power of the human brain is a wondrous thing).

[macosxnerd101]

If only your kids appreciated how much the brain likes to math.

[depricated]

BenignDesign, on 09 October 2014 - 07:14 AM, said:

I don't appreciate being referred to as an "oldtimer".

B9 be all like

BenignDesign, on 09 October 2014 - 07:14 AM, said:

Darn kids these days with their intellisense, error handling, garbage collecting, and yoloswags

edit cause I don't even bracket

oh and I forgot test frameworks, junit is tits

This post has been edited by depricated: 09 October 2014 - 06:21 AM

[BenignDesign]

[modi123_1]

What? No one has opted to try and pee on the campfire with claims of VI or VIM? Kudos for being mature folk.

Spoiler

Yes.. I have punched a few cards back in college. It was enlightening, and mildly cathartic. All which the teacher wanted to impress upon us.

[ccubed]

I don't even remember the last time I used the debugger to trace a variable during execution. I've basically never found a situation where I absolutely needed to trace a variable during execution in order to solve a problem. I've found situations where it makes it slightly easier, but never one in which it would have prevented the solution from being found.

So what's programming like without an 'editor?' Exactly like programming with an editor.

I also feel I should be slightly worried by the initial statement 'programming without an editor would be impossible' where we've now identified he means a trace. What is OP doing so often with a trace...

[lordofduct]

baavgai, on 09 October 2014 - 05:42 AM, said:

This is interesting. The IBM PC, the great granddaddy of what you're most likely sitting at now, shows up in 1981. So, before the PC, no "editor?"

What was that "editor?" I'm honestly curious as to what counts in 1982. If you want to talk IDE history, I would have nominated Borland's Turbo Pascal as being an early influence, released in 1983. However, you could write a program, run it, and view it's state in BASIC, circa 1964. So, what's the first according to your "one programmer?"

From the wording that OP gave:

Quote

I talked to one programmer who said that they did not get an editor until 1982...

I interpreted it as meaning "1982 was the year they got their editor". Like how in 1991 I got my Sega Genesis, despite it already being out for a couple years.

[Bort]

Back when I was a lad, all them years ago, when all this were nowt but fields...

In them days, you had to do your coding on an abacus, and if you didn't like that, you got the cane.