I was digging through a box of old stuff the other day and I came across my very first programming book. I couldn’t believe that I still had the thing. It instantly sent me tumbling down memory lane…

Back when I was eight years old my dad brought home a brand new Commodore 64 Computer. It was 1986. My mom was furious, but thank god dad bought it because that computer changed my life.

It was the coolest thing I ever saw…

…except you couldn’t really do anything with it unless you wrote basic code yourself. The computer came with a users manual (that I also still have!) which explained the basics of the Basic programming language.

The users manual was called “Commodore 64C Personal Comouter System Guide: Learning to Program in BASIC 2.0”.

I quickly tore through it, but needed more. So for Christmas I asked for a programming book. I didn’t even know if such a thing existed.

What I got was a Sams book called “Learn Basic Programming in 14 Days on Your Commodore 64” by Gil M. Schecter. I say “book” but it was really just a comb binded manual.

But it was perfect!

I still remember how excited I was pouring through that thing!

I guess technically that System Guide was my first coding book, but it came with the computer and belonged to my dad. The Sams book was mine. For some reason that’s an important distinction to me.

Since then I’ve owned dozens of programming books in as many different languages from C to Perl to PHP and Visual Basic…and everything in between… but it’s that very first book that will always have a special place in my heart.

What About You?

Do you remember your first programming book? What was it? Do you still have it? Do you still reference it every once in a while? I’d love to hear your stories too…