Do you remember the DATA statement... miss just one comma when copying the
code and you ended up with an unrecognizable mess!
COMPUTE! Magazine was my favorite even though I was using a TI-99/4 computer
back in those days. They didn't start to cover the TI computer until 1983 or
so, but the BASIC languages had enough in common that you could use them as
a base and just account for the (mainly) graphics handling differences (TI
handle graphics *totally* differently than the IBM based PCs of the day). I
even got COMPUTE! to buy a few articles I wrote and submitted to them.
--
Rick (MVP - Excel)
"Elkar" wrote in message
...
Rick, that brings back memories. I remember back in the early '80s
eargerly
awaiting my subscription to Home Computing magazine every month, so I
could
type in the programs they had printed in the back. Trying to see if I
could
figure out what each line of code would do as I was typing it in. Then
the
real fun, seeing if it would acutally compile, or if you made one tiny
typo
somewhere and then searching through the hundred or so lines of code to
find
it.
Ah, the good ol' days! :)
"Rick Rothstein" wrote:
I'm completely self-taught. I started back in 1981 with versions of the
then
BASIC language. What I did (way back then) was first read through and
familiarized my self with the various functions and (for VB) statements
that
comprised the language. I didn't memorize their syntax, just that they
were
there and what they did (syntax could always be looked up until
repetitious
use allowed me to "know" them by heart). Then I decided on a rather
complex
project for a beginner (I choose to make a slot machine program...
graphics
and all) and sat down and started to figure out what I wanted and what
functions and statements I *thought* I might need to accomplish this
goal.
Then I started to write code... and made a TON of mistakes. This was
good. I
learned more from my mistakes than if what I thought would work actually
did
work. The reason... you learn the limitations of the tools you have to
work
with faster when they trip you up by not working. Now, becoming good at
coding didn't happen right away... it took several more complex projects
to
start to lock the concepts and limitations into my mind. Okay, the above
is
just a long-winded way of saying practice, practice, practice. I believe
experience is the best teacher... not books, classes, etc. Next, when
things
start to make sense to you... then start looking at other peoples code
and
try to figure out how what they did actually works. These newsgroups are
an
excellent resource for that stage. I didn't have anything like it back
when
I started, so I used magazines (back in the early 1980s to early 1990s,
magazines posting code to be typed into your computer were all the rage).
--
Rick (MVP - Excel)
"AFranco" wrote in message
...
I want to know Excel to a higher level, I worked with formulas, small
macros
etc.. but I want to be able to create more complex macros and more
complex
formulas to be able to use it at work. So I wanted to know where did
you
guys
learned? Ive been to a few classes, but I see everything that I already
know.. where should I go? please help