<story><title>Ask HN: What was being a software developer like about 30 years ago?</title><text>I&amp;#x27;m curious what it was like to be a developer 30 years ago compared now in terms of processes, design principles, work-life balance, compensation. Are things better now than they were back then?</text></story><parent_chain><item><author>evo_9</author><text>The thing I remember most about those days was how often I went to Barnes &amp;amp; Nobles.  You simply couldn&amp;#x27;t find the information online at that point.  I&amp;#x27;d go and buy a coffee and sit with a stack of books on a given topic I needed to research; then after ~45 minutes I&amp;#x27;d decide and buy one or two books, and head back to the office to get to work.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>randcraw</author><text>Or to Computer Literacy bookstore.  Each time I attended a conference in the Bay Area I made sure to drop into their store in San Jose to spend hours poring over the multitude of recent books on all the new stiuff happening in computing.  I then had to lug 3-5 heavy books back on the plane with me.  Then CL opened a store near me (Tyson&amp;#x27;s Corner in northern Virginia) which I visited at least weekly.  I musta spent thousands on books back then, especially from O&amp;#x27;Reilly.  The world of computing was exploding and just keeping up with it was a challenge but also a major blast.&lt;p&gt;No source on the changes afoot then in computing was more compelling than WiReD Magazine.  Its first 3-5 years were simply riveting: great insightful imaginative stories and fascinating interviews with folks whose font of creative ideas seemed unstoppable and sure to change the world.  Each month&amp;#x27;s issue sucked all my time until it was read cover to cover and then discussed with others ASAP.  That was a great time to be young and alive.&lt;p&gt;But Wired wasn&amp;#x27;t alone.  Before them, Creative Computing and Byte were also must reads.  Between 1975 and maybe 1990, the computing hobbyist community was red hot with hacks of all kinds, hard and soft.  No way I was going to take a job that was NOT in computing.  So I did.  Been there ever since.</text></comment>
<story><title>Ask HN: What was being a software developer like about 30 years ago?</title><text>I&amp;#x27;m curious what it was like to be a developer 30 years ago compared now in terms of processes, design principles, work-life balance, compensation. Are things better now than they were back then?</text></story><parent_chain><item><author>evo_9</author><text>The thing I remember most about those days was how often I went to Barnes &amp;amp; Nobles.  You simply couldn&amp;#x27;t find the information online at that point.  I&amp;#x27;d go and buy a coffee and sit with a stack of books on a given topic I needed to research; then after ~45 minutes I&amp;#x27;d decide and buy one or two books, and head back to the office to get to work.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>TigeriusKirk</author><text>The MSDN library CDs were indispensable for Windows developers in the 90s. Amazing resource all at your fingertips! What a time we were living in!</text></comment>