{ My Career In Computer Science Don Marsh

 What I’ve done / learned  Demos of recent projects  Questions and answers Overview

 512 bytes of memory!  Connected to a teletype  Type programs in using hex numbers  Last computer I completely understood  My first computer (1975)

 The 6502 Program Exchange  Just me, my dad, and the Denver 6502 Users’ Group  Ran for 8 years, customers in dozens of countries  What I learned: Fun! But computers can take over your life. My first company (1976)

 Stride Micro (Reno, NV)  processor, 8 MB, Unix!  I learned from really smart programmers. Nothing is impossible, but sometimes you have to be really creative. My first “real” job (1982)

 Tron – first big movie with computer animation  Started studying computer graphics My first inspiration (1982)

 Wrote a ray-tracing renderer from scratch.  I learned to manage a large coding project with hard deadlines.  I decided I want to work on software that people will actually use. Master’s degree in computer graphics (1987)

 I chose Apple over Pixar, because I wanted to write software that my friends and family would use.  Wrote MIDI software.  Created ray-traced animation on Apple’s Cray supercomputer.  It’s fun to work for a company in its heyday. Apple ( )

 Try to dethrone Microsoft Windows  Never shipped! (Killed by the web and Java)  C++ and object-oriented design  How important it is to ship your work! Taligent ( )

 Wrote an internet browser for kids (for everyone!)  Acquired by Microsoft.  Working like crazy for 18 months without pay is hard.  Pay attention to legal arrangements, even if you care only about technical stuff. Walkabout Software ( )

 Wrote graphics foundation of Internet Explorer  Developed UI for internet device (MSN Companion)  Wrote foundation of Microsoft photo editing  Don’t let perfection stop you from shipping.  Microsoft is a huge and complex company. Difficult for anyone but Bill Gates to lead. Microsoft ( )

 Currently working for Genome Sciences department at UW.  Machine learning startup company. After Microsoft (2011-now)

Demo

  What's the life of a computer programmer like?   Awesome!   What was your first program like?   My first program just typed back whatever we typed into the computer. Pretty cool, eh? It took quite a while to get that running.   What's your best program?   Most valuable: Runabout browser   Most clever: Animation of Apple IIGS   Most influential: Microsoft DaVinci   Most interesting: WhiteMarshForest Mill / genetically evolved plants   Most exciting: MobiusMaze   What does his company do?   Analysis of mass spectrometry data. Also machine learning on images.   How many hours does he spend programming? 50/week   What would be some good things for us to start?   Robotics? Graphics?   What are some of the difference between Microsoft and Apple?   Many differences, but they’re both big companies.   What does a programmer eat for breakfast? Cereal! Questions