25 years here - today - development tools are even better
I continue to have the great pleasure to work with top developer tools engineers and managers, to visit with great developers and industry experts at conferences and to spend time with our wonderful customers. Over the past twenty five years a lot of change has taken place in our programming, languages, processes, platforms, architectures and tools.
In programming we moved to object-oriented and declarative and we are on the cusp of wider use of functional and parallel paradigms. In 1985 we were using C, Pascal and Basic and now C++, C#, Delphi, Python, Java, Ruby, Javascript and a host of other languages are being used for serious development.
In processes we moved from waterfall to a whole host of agile methods. In 1985 there was PC DOS, Apple DOS, DR DOS and a bunch of other disk operating systems. We used timesharing and mainframe until the minicomputers and personal computers arrived. Now we have Windows, Mac OSX, Linux, and a wide range of other operating environments and the term platform is overload to mean just about anything that is a substrate for applications and services.
In 1985 we had just started using network and client server architectures. Since then we have added architectures for distributed applications (DCE, CORBA, COM+, SOAP, REST etc) and for cloud based systems. In 1985 we had simple integrated environments (for example, Turbo Pascal) combining a command line compiler with an editor or we just used programmable editors (emacs, vi, SlickEdit, Codewright) that launched command line compilers. Now we have complete development studios, team systems, refactoring engines, integrated debuggers, integrated modeling, static and dynamic analysis, integrated unit and system testing and a never ending list of additional tools and tool chains to streamline our design, development, build, test and deploy efforts.
We've come so far, but of course we still have a long road ahead to continue to improve what we do every day. That's what, for me, keeps things fresh, exciting and challenging.
For all of you that have helped me over these 25 years, to everyone who I've met and worked with, for all of you who have pushed me to do more and most importantly to my wonderful wife and kids - I give you all my love and thanks.
Now, let's get back to work and continue to push the envelop of the craft we love so much.
Programming is Life!
David I.
Comments
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Friday, 18 June 2010Congrats, thanks a lot for all of your help, and let's have at least another 10 years of David I!
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Friday, 18 June 2010
Congratulations David!
I have always thought of the universe as being the work on one very serious developer. All these Objects communicating and it just works - from galaxies to microbes!.
Every time I fire up Delphi and build an app, I feel like I'm creating my own little universe, too. Thats always thrilling!
WO. -
Friday, 18 June 2010
Congratulations David!
Programing is life and love! I wish You at least another quarter of a century working in such a great technology company.
You have inspired me and thousands of developers and IT specialists around the globe! Please keep it coming!
Good Luck:-) -
Friday, 18 June 2010
Congratulations David!
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Saturday, 19 June 2010
Great achievement David. Your loyalty to both the company and the community are very much appreciated.
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Monday, 21 June 2010
Great Achievment and Loyalty to your customers and employers David, they all are fortunate having yourself to work with...
Kind regards and Congrats!
B. -
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
I used to think you and Frank Borland were the same person!
I still have your C++ tutorial video and booklet somewhere... -
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In 1985 I had not yet bought my first copy of Turbo Pascal, but I bought my first IBM compatible computer that year. In 1988, I think, was when I first started to learn Turbo Pascal on an old Epson Equity II PC XT (8086 @ 8.88 mhz) clone. The first auto-focus film SLR had just been released. Windows 1.0 was released a year later, and almost nobody ever heard of it. Who would have foreseen what today's technological world, with "the web", and the ubiquity of TCP/IP and wireless handheld devices, looked like? Okay, so we don't have rocket packs yet, or flying cars, but we do have video telephones that almost fit on our wrists (iPhone 4, on your wrist, anybody?).
Warren