DOS programming is still quite common in industrial embedded systems. Also PLCs are often programmed in some simplified form of assembly/basic/pascal.

It's not useless if you want to maintain old industrial control systems, or program low-level system utilities or whatever. You would be amazed at how many things out there still run on DOS and other old platforms. You know the old adage "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!". 😉

BTW: I once had the crazy thought of writing modern DOS games and bundling them with DOSBox to run them. That way, they're instantly cross-platform and made to work in the emulator they're using.

Part of the reason I haven't done that and probably won't is because I limit myself to the level of power I can employ in my software. (IE: No 32-bit colour effects, no resolutions higher than 640x480 without potentially sketchy framerates, etc.)

*shrugs* It's a thought.

For commercial-level development though, you definitely need to move on. Visual C++ in combination with a wrapper like Allegro, which is what I use, should be able to get you going with Windows development very quickly.

Objective-C is still widely used for iOS applications. I have no idea how far away it is from Turbo C, of course.

Linux is also probably swell for assembly and other low-level languages.

I ran into a UNISYS machine running DOS at the post office for the base I just left in afghanistan..... the guy running it complained that it was slow. 😉

DosFreak wrote:

I ran into a UNISYS machine running DOS at the post office for the base I just left in afghanistan..... the guy running it complained that it was slow. 😉

Haha, I'm sure it was faster then any of my C64's or even 128's for that matter 😉

The real issues is not that you have older computer skills but that do you want to learn new coding skills or try to leverage what you already know into a job that still requires old school skills like this ?

Hell, I still bust out my 128 now and again and load up CPM+ from floppy and still have fun playing around with that.

I appreciate all the comments here - I really do. Okay maybe you guys have convinced me not to get rid of my old DOS stuff. But I am not convinced pursuing computers is worthwhile. The chances of doing/creating anything significant are.... very small

Well depends on what area exactly you want to get into, what really interests you? If you know how to program, the specific language does not matter really. If you know how to think when designing a program, the syntax is usually the least of the problem...many languages today have roots in C syntax so they should be familiar to a C programmer. Sure you're maybe faster in one language, but another language might be better for some specific task and using it still does the job better/faster than trying to build UI in asm 😁

If you know how-to program and have that problem solving mindset that goes with it, you can pick up any modern language and/or API and learn it fairly quickly. When dealing with high level languages after awhile it all looks the same, just the syntax differs. The sad fact is, the vast majority of "programming" jobs out there are maintaining an existing code base or developing a front end to a database.

ncmark wrote:

But I am not convinced pursuing computers is worthwhile. The chances of doing/creating anything significant are.... very small

Oh, there's still room for significant contributions. Perhaps you could contribute to the ScummVM project – add support for the old Legend Entertainment adventure games, for instance. That would totally require a good grasp of assembly language.

There's an old 68k Macintosh emulator named Executor whose source code was released several years ago which could undoubtedly be used for Great Things – but it seems no one has bothered messing with it.

ncmark wrote:

I appreciate all the comments here - I really do. Okay maybe you guys have convinced me not to get rid of my old DOS stuff. But I am not convinced pursuing computers is worthwhile. The chances of doing/creating anything significant are.... very small

Exactly. Most of the people who do computer stuff for a living aren't doing it because of the money involved, but because they love doing it. Only a minority make livable money from their efforts... I am not one of them, but I still program stuff anyways because I like to. Granted, I much prefer the design process than actual coding. I don't like coding (even though I can do it better than a lot of people) simply because I'm slow at it. :P

But yeah, if you're only making these considerations because of possible profits and not because of any enjoyment, then you're better off moving on.

i used to love programming until i was told i was pointless because it wasn't linux programming.
i used to love modeling until i was given constant death threats for not giving my models up to some garry's mod thief children

greed sucks.

Don't mix work and play. Programming for yourself can be fun. Programming some drivel for a jackass boss at a multinational conglomerate under time constraints is hell.

Our local computer service places runs DOS programs in Windows XP for its database/accounting needs despite the fact that you can buy many hyperpowered graphics cards from them. My uncle used a Pentium 75 with Windows 95 for office and browsing use until about 2005. Honestly, it seems to me that the more useful things you do on a PC the less horsepower you need, hell, NASA still uses 10-30 Mhz CPUs for its space probes simply because the only CPUs they make radiation proof are the old ones.

Geez, lotta old crank talk going on in this thread. Programming, I find, is a good job. The pay's not bad, you get to work with computers and around other nerds, and most importantly there's always something new to learn. Yes you'll generally be maintaining an existing application that someone else wrote 10 years ago, yes it will probably just be the front end to a database. And yes, working to a deadline for a manager who doesn't know diddly squat about coding can be a pain in the bum, but isn't that what a job is?

Maybe I'm missing the point. It's not for everyone, but if you have an interest in it then do a course and start applying for jobs.

m1so wrote:

Our local computer service places runs DOS programs in Windows XP for its database/accounting needs despite the fact that you can buy many hyperpowered graphics cards from them. My uncle used a Pentium 75 with Windows 95 for office and browsing use until about 2005. Honestly, it seems to me that the more useful things you do on a PC the less horsepower you need, hell, NASA still uses 10-30 Mhz CPUs for its space probes simply because the only CPUs they make radiation proof are the old ones.

Think older 🤣, they still have two Intel 4004 that have been running 30+ years contentiously in their Voyager probes.

Yeah, but Voyagers were launched in the 70s. I am talking about the probes launched in the last few years, they always use some RISC chip below 40 Mhz.

Got curious and googled into this:

The CPUs of Spacecraft - Computers in Space

Seems the 'fastest' is Curiosity's RAD750, a radiation-hardened PowerPC @ 200MHz. Costs $200,000 and withstands 1,000,000 rads 😳 .

I am not a "hard-core" programmer, but love to play around with Arduino, Construct 2 and a bit of Visual Studio. Construct 2 is my favourite as it allows me to create quite cool HTML5 games and focus on logic and game design rather than coding syntax 😀 The world of tablets, mobiles and browser games is quite fascinating.