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It was the spring of 1993. UPS dropped a huge package at my door. It was Visual C++ 1.0 in a 50-story-high white box that weighed a ton. I spent the whole day r

It was the spring of 1993. UPS dropped a huge package at my door. It was Visual C++ 1.0 in a 50-story-high white box that weighed a ton. I spent the whole day reading manuals and messing with it. When my wife came home that night, I couldn't wait to show her what I finally managed to pull off -- a maximized window that contained a single button that filled the entire space of that window. And the label said "Click Me." My wife clicked that button, and nothing happened. "What's the point?" she asked. I said, "You can click it." "But what's the big deal?" she was baffled. "You can click it,“ I said. “That's the big deal."

rtgfhyuj 4mo ago
[flagged]
- zhxiaoliang 4mo ago
  Yes. It was 1993 -- there was no Internet to search for anything. The manual that came with Visual C++ could fill a small library, and the program itself came on two dozen floppy disks. And me being a not-so-bright junior programmer didn't help either.
jml7c5 4mo ago
That reminds me of this story, from developing for the Playstation: >In the main engineering room, there was a whoop and cry of success. >Our company financial controller and acting HR lady, Jen, came in to see what incredible things the engineers and artists had come up with. Everyone was staring at a television set hooked up to a development box for the Sony Playstation. There, on the screen, against a single-color background, was a black triangle. >“It’s a black triangle,” she said in an amused but sarcastic voice. One of the engine programmers tried to explain, but she shook her head and went back to her office. I could almost hear her thoughts… “We’ve got ten months to deliver two games to Sony, and they are cheering over a black triangle? THAT took them nearly a month to develop?” https://rampantgames.com/blog/?p=7745 https://rampantgames.com/blog/?p=7745
- zhxiaoliang 4mo ago
  That’s a cool story! Thx for sharing. Back then programming was rough, but the sense of accomplishment from completing even simple tasks was real and rewarding.

rtgfhyuj 4mo ago

[flagged]

zhxiaoliang 4mo ago
Yes. It was 1993 -- there was no Internet to search for anything. The manual that came with Visual C++ could fill a small library, and the program itself came on two dozen floppy disks. And me being a not-so-bright junior programmer didn't help either.

jml7c5 4mo ago

That reminds me of this story, from developing for the Playstation: >In the main engineering room, there was a whoop and cry of success. >Our company financial controller and acting HR lady, Jen, came in to see what incredible things the engineers and artists had come up with. Everyone was staring at a television set hooked up to a development box for the Sony Playstation. There, on the screen, against a single-color background, was a black triangle. >“It’s a black triangle,” she said in an amused but sarcastic voice. One of the engine programmers tried to explain, but she shook her head and went back to her office. I could almost hear her thoughts… “We’ve got ten months to deliver two games to Sony, and they are cheering over a black triangle? THAT took them nearly a month to develop?” https://rampantgames.com/blog/?p=7745 https://rampantgames.com/blog/?p=7745

zhxiaoliang 4mo ago
That’s a cool story! Thx for sharing. Back then programming was rough, but the sense of accomplishment from completing even simple tasks was real and rewarding.