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My Career InComputer 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)

68000 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 graphicsMy 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 (1987-1992)

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 (1990-1995)

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 (1996-1997)

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 (1997-2009)

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