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Spellcheckers in the 1980s: A Memory War

2025-08-13

Creating a spellchecker for a new MS-DOS word processor in 1984 was a monumental challenge. Computers boasted meager memory (often just 256K), forcing programmers to employ ingenious compression techniques and algorithms to fit the dictionary and spellchecking functionality. This stands in stark contrast to today, where implementing a spellchecker is a trivial task, highlighting the enormous strides made in software engineering and computing power. The article eloquently portrays this evolution, from a months-long struggle with memory limitations to the simplicity of modern implementations.

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(prog21.dadgum.com)
Development

Coding at 50: A Programmer's Midlife Crisis?

2025-02-22

A seasoned programmer reflects on his career, finding large-scale, high-pressure coding frustrating: poorly understood domains, vast APIs, cryptic documentation, ever-changing tech stacks, and unpredictable bugs. He realizes this intensity isn't sustainable, especially at 50. He prefers building small, reliable tools—like a sub-28KB C and Erlang image compositor—over large projects. This raises questions about programmer career paths and sustainability: is high-pressure coding a young man's game?

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(prog21.dadgum.com)
Development midlife crisis