--- title: "1980s: Learning To Code Back in the '80s!" url: https://daily.dev/posts/1980s-learning-to-code-back-in-the-80s--qbiu3k1ru source_url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEAjtOI-Oaw type: video:youtube source: "Dave's Garage" published: 2026-05-26T21:06:19.818Z updated: 2026-05-26T21:06:41.334Z reading_time: 16 upvotes: 0 comments: 0 language: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # 1980s: Learning To Code Back in the '80s! **[Dave's Garage](https://daily.dev/sources/davesgarage)** · 16 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A personal narrative about learning to program in 1980s rural Saskatchewan, Canada, with no internet, limited resources, and early home computers like the Commodore 64 and TRS-80. The author reflects on how scarcity, isolation, and unforgiving hardware forced deep understanding of machines — from memory-mapped registers and PEEK/POKE commands to cassette tape storage and manual debugging. The core lesson: constraints build genuine understanding, and the fundamental problem-solving mindset developed then (observe, hypothesize, isolate, test) applies equally to modern systems like Kubernetes and distributed databases. The author cautions that today's abundance of tools and abstractions can let developers move forward without truly understanding what's underneath. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Reject Modernity, Return To 80s, Learn C.](https://daily.dev/posts/reject-modernity-return-to-80s-learn-c--isjpcqmcw) · Hackaday · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [The history and future of software development \(part 1\)](https://daily.dev/posts/the-history-and-future-of-software-development-part-1--nrqny5rcm) · Stack Overflow Blog · 2 upvotes · 0 comments - [Stories From 25 Years of Software Development](https://daily.dev/posts/stories-from-25-years-of-software-development-tyrqyzpoj) · Lobsters · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/1980s-learning-to-code-back-in-the-80s--qbiu3k1ru)