"Eliezer S. Yudkowsky" wrote:
>
To make it clear which parts I *know* and which parts I *believe*:
At the dawn of time, I typed in extremely simple programs in Basic and Logo. At about nine, I think, I wrote a few simple programs in Hypertalk. I don't count any of this as "learning to program".
I learned to program in MOO (text-based virtual reality, object-oriented, secure, interpreted, cooperative environment), and I've got around a year of experience in that. Then, I wrote my first GUI program in C, because it had to run in 32K - don't do anything like this if you can help it! Then, I got six months worth of Java. Then I started on C++. My highest level of expertise is in C++, a few years worth; I can do the possible elegantly and the impossible via black magic.
I can do a little Javascript and CGI.
I can read programs in Perl and Common Lisp.
Haskell, BETA, APL, Eiffel, and Scheme - theoretical knowledge only, but they're still fascinating.
The only OS I presently have any experience is the Macintosh, but I've fallen in love with BeOS and I intend to switch over as soon as I can back up my computer. It's easy to see that BeOS is infinitely superior. I don't have any actual experience, but it's utterly obvious that BeOS is The Right Thing, the OS I've always wished I had, and I can't wait to get started. (Sound irrational to you? Take a look at BeOS.) As far as I know, it's the only object-oriented operating system.
--
sentience@pobox.com Eliezer S. Yudkowsky
http://pobox.com/~sentience/AI_design.temp.html
http://pobox.com/~sentience/singul_arity.html
Disclaimer: Unless otherwise specified, I'm not telling you
everything I think I know.