I’ve been harboring the idea of a blog for a while, and today I’m finally taking the plunge. This is my first post, where I want to share a bit of the road to where I am now.

Every developer’s journey starts somewhere, and mine began with a simple Soviet clone of the ZX Spectrum called the “Ariel”.

The Spark

It was the early 2000s: no internet, no home PC, no mobile phones. Only the TV, a cassette player with a couple of tapes, and the outdoors. Oh yes, and the NES console clone with about five cartridges. Do you get the atmosphere? It was basically the opposite of today’s world, where we’re bored watching TikToks or scrolling through Instagram. At that time, anything could be exciting. And I was much younger.

While poking around the house, I stumbled upon an old Ariel computer. I already had some knowledge about Spectrum clones - in the 90s my dad had one, and I remember playing some games on it. But this Ariel was different; it was never used in our family, so I had the privilege of making “first contact.” The other important difference was that this one had a user guide.

I remember sitting down with that guide, flipping through the pages, and seeing all those BASIC commands. It was like discovering a secret language. I was fascinated by the idea that I could uncover the mysteries of how this machine worked.

The First Cool Program

Beyond simple commands like 10 PRINT “HELLO, WORLD!” and 20 GOTO 10, the guide contained examples of complete programs. One of them was a clock. It drew a real analog clock with a big circle, hour numbers, and moving hands. I typed it in, line by line, and ran it. I didn’t understand much of it because there was math involved, but it worked and looked spectacular. Luckily, my parents noticed it too and were impressed.

Early Lessons

Long story short, we had a neighbor who was a university professor in computer science. Meet the honorable L. L. Podolsky. My parents somehow interested him in taking me under his wing. He taught me the basics of algorithms.

I still remember how hard it was to solve the “find the biggest of three numbers” problem. I did it the most obvious way with nested conditions, and he asked, “What if there were a hundred numbers, not three?” That was a frustrating moment, and it confused me until he showed a brilliant solution using an additional variable to hold the current maximum. Now I see that this was also an introduction to the concept of iteration.

There are too many stories to tell, but the main point is that this experience ignited a passion for programming in me. From that point on, I learned Pascal and then Delphi. Do you remember how I started with no PC at home? Guess what - they had PCs at the university! I was allowed to use them after classes. So, I spent hours there typing code, running and debugging programs, learning from my mistakes, and sometimes debating with more experienced university students. It was awesome practice for a kid! I even skipped meals because I was so engrossed in coding.

The Real Project

The peak of my early adolescence coding journey was “The Real Project.” Not a simple database, nor some kid’s game, but a full-fledged application for managing the university’s students for an advanced training program.

Podolsky’s department needed it to manage students and corresponding documents. They had a system before, but it was old and clunky. So, I took on the challenge of building a new one from scratch using Delphi. Two things deserve mentioning here:

  1. It was my first client project. I literally worked in the same room with the people who would use it. They gave me requirements, feedback, and even tested early versions. It was a real-world experience that taught me how to communicate with clients and understand their needs. They also made the best tea I’ve ever had. For a period, I even had a first-year student to help me with development, so I can call it my first team experience.

  2. They used Excel. A lot. As I mentioned, their old system was missing features, so they used Excel to fill the gaps and were happy with it. Did you know that Excel has a programming language called VBA? And that Windows has an interface to automate Excel from external applications called OLE Automation? Guess what? I used it to make my application interact with Excel to generate documents and reports. It was mind-blowing. On a button click, my Delphi app would open Excel, create a workbook, fill it with data, format it, and save it. All programmatically. I can assure you I had my first happy client thanks to this magic.

What’s Next?

This is just the beginning. I want to share more, as stories just kept coming up while I was typing this. More coding, first website, falls and failures. But I think it’s enough for the first post. Welcome, and it is nice to meet you here!