I was interviewing for a job recently, and I got asked what got me into coding. It’s not the first time I got asked that same question, and it’s one of my favorites. I love to see the person’s reaction who asks me the question when I tell them the answer.
For me there wasn't one single "thing" that got me interested in coding, but there's no doubt that the book The Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder played a key role.
It’s the movie Hackers from 1995! I’m not joking. That’s the movie that made me fall in love with computers, coding, and hacking. Many people consider it cheesy, but I don’t care. I watched it probably twenty times, if not more. I watch it any time I find myself feeling down and unmotivated. It reminds me of those first days, that initial spark. Just like you would reminisce about a beautiful beginning of a past love affair when you feel lonely and unloved.
Yes, "Hackers" is cheesy as hell, but it's simultaneously a great movie in a certain sense. Like the author of TFA, I consider it one of my "comfort movies". I've probably watched it 20+ times, and can always default to watching that when I'm feeling down, strung-out, overwhelmed, etc. Doing so always puts me in a better mood. A few other movies that fall into the same category for me include "Antitrust", "The Matrix", "The Social Network", "War Games", "Tron: Legacy", "Rad", and maybe one or two others.
Addendum, as I see the author of the link was the poster: I see I largely share your taste (at least on this subject). Have you read Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder? I didn't see it on your list and I think it's terrific - one of those ones that makes me nostalgic for a time I didn't actually experience!
I’m truly delighted to see Antitrust (2001) made it onto the list.
I was very much ‘into’ computer security around the turn of the century, when this film was released, and it totally amazed me with the fact it had no strange FUI “future interfaces” or unrecognisable technology. It was all grounded on the technology stacks I recognised from the time. There was Linux and Gnome and various key-presses and other technical aspects made sense.
There was a believable tech company. There were believable tech company employees.
A real gem of a film, not in terms of narrative or acting, but in terms of plausible accuracy.
Would it be too risky to mention Bill Gates' "The Path to the Future" at a hacker community? Bill Gates mainly discussed about the social impact of techniques including multimedia and Internet. I re-read the book yesterday and still find interesting insights.
At the same time, I enjoy reading "The Art of Unix programming" and "Just for fun". Both books reveal that why some open source code can live more than tens of years, because they are created by enthusiasm and fun.
Glad to see Revolution OS in the list! Helped me get through times in grad school when I'd get stuck on something working on my thesis. Grab a bowl of ramen and put this movie on!
As an origin story for our computer-driven era, it’s pretty desultory. I say this as somebody with Turing’s Theta Combinator tattooed onto my left arm… so that qualifies the statement somewhat, I suppose.
For me there wasn't one single "thing" that got me interested in coding, but there's no doubt that the book The Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder played a key role.
It’s the movie Hackers from 1995! I’m not joking. That’s the movie that made me fall in love with computers, coding, and hacking. Many people consider it cheesy, but I don’t care. I watched it probably twenty times, if not more. I watch it any time I find myself feeling down and unmotivated. It reminds me of those first days, that initial spark. Just like you would reminisce about a beautiful beginning of a past love affair when you feel lonely and unloved.
Yes, "Hackers" is cheesy as hell, but it's simultaneously a great movie in a certain sense. Like the author of TFA, I consider it one of my "comfort movies". I've probably watched it 20+ times, and can always default to watching that when I'm feeling down, strung-out, overwhelmed, etc. Doing so always puts me in a better mood. A few other movies that fall into the same category for me include "Antitrust", "The Matrix", "The Social Network", "War Games", "Tron: Legacy", "Rad", and maybe one or two others.