Didn't most of those programmers from the 60s and 70s have like, Master's degrees in mathematics? Computers were massive, expensive machines that were used largely by universities and research facilities - you definitely couldn't buy your own and teach yourself how to program it like you can now.

[–] LinkOpensChest_wav@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 5 months ago

Yes, this is true. My mom learned programming in the 60s, and it was a completely different beast.

[–] riodoro1@lemmy.world 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Dom Eyles knew fuck all about computers and mathematics but responded to a job offer at MIT and wrote a program that guided the lander to the moon.

[–] rand_alpha19@moist.catsweat.com 7 points 5 months ago

His Wikipedia page says he had a BSc in mathematics from Boston University, unless this is a different guy.