Background
I've been programming for a long time - since 1970 to be exact.
Back in those days there were patch cords and punch cards involved - and a lot of patience, jumping through hoops and waiting for your turn to submit your jobs to be executed...
Then on to the mighty '3rd generation' mainframe computers, first still with punch cards, then eventually progressing to using 'green screen' terminals - oh joy! Not much else changed though - still had to wait for your turn to submit your jobs to be executed...
When the personal computer made its debut, I was one of the first to jump ship to the newly invented 'Office Automation' and 'Development Center' teams to introduce the wonders of personal computing to corporate managers. I cut my teeth on a Commodore Vic 20 before graduating to a PC with two floppy drives and no hard disk and finally landed a spot on the coveted Development Center team - my team mates thought I was crazy for leaving the mainframes behind...
Never did look back - had a wonderful time creating PC software until the dot com bust. I hadn't had chance yet to migrate to web development when the PC programming job market disappeared virtually overnight. The only (C++) jobs left seemed to be for defense related contracts - a segment I was excluded from, being a Canadian working in the USA...
Now that I've adjusted my thinking to the fast moving web development arena, I am loving my work again. Even more so than with PC programming, the Instant Gratification factor is huge.
In terms of programming languages, I started with AutoCoder and Mark IV, then Cobol, Macro Assembler and Basic, followed by C, C++ and Java and finally PHP. These days I almost exclusively program in PHP, and mostly in the context of the MODx Content Management System.
Having worked in industries as diverse as Life Insurance (Canada Life and The Co-operators), Litigation Support (IPRO Tech), Workflow Management (ICG Consulting and United Guaranty), Card Swipe Equipment manafacturing (Hypercom Corporation), Compiler Testing (IBM Canada), Gasoline Dispensing Equipment (Candian Tire) and Personal Information Management (Best Software) for companies ranging in size from very large to tiny, I now limit myself to working for small to medium sized companies on a freelance basis. My years of dodging corporate office politics are finally over - woohoo!