I Tried The OLDEST Programming Language
TLDRThe video script narrates an intriguing journey of a programmer's curiosity about the oldest programming language, Fortran. Initially dismissive, the narrator embarks on a quest to learn Fortran, culminating in the creation of a password generator and a mesmerizing 3D spinning donut animation. The process is depicted as a challenging yet rewarding experience, with the narrator overcoming obstacles, debugging issues, and mastering complex mathematical concepts. Despite the language's age, the narrator acknowledges its continued relevance while appreciating the beauty of modern technologies. The script is an engaging tale of perseverance, problem-solving, and the insatiable pursuit of knowledge.
Takeaways
- 😀 The video is about learning and working with the Fortran programming language, which is the oldest programming language, dating back to 1957.
- 🤔 The narrator initially learned Fortran out of curiosity, wanting to understand why such an old language is still being used today.
- 💻 One of the first projects the narrator worked on was creating a password generator program in Fortran.
- 🌀 The main project discussed in the video is creating a spinning 3D donut animation in the terminal using Fortran.
- 🧠 Creating the donut animation required understanding and implementing various mathematical concepts like matrices, rotations, and projections.
- 😰 The narrator encountered several challenges and errors while coding the donut animation, but persevered through them.
- 🎨 The final touch to the donut animation was adding colors using ANSI escape codes.
- 😎 Despite the struggles, the narrator found Fortran to be an interesting language to work with.
- ❓ The narrator questions why Fortran is still being used today, speculating that it might be for legacy code purposes.
- 😊 Overall, the video showcases the narrator's journey of learning and exploring the Fortran programming language through practical projects.
Q & A
What was the initial motivation to learn Fortran?
-The narrator was intrigued by the fact that Fortran is the oldest programming language and was curious about its continued use, despite the existence of newer languages.
What was the first project undertaken while learning Fortran?
-The first project was to create a password generator that generates random passwords.
What challenges were faced during the password generator project?
-The narrator faced several challenges, including generating random numbers, handling errors, asking the user for password length, and converting numbers to characters.
What was the second project undertaken after the password generator?
-The second project was to build a spinning 3D donut in the terminal, which the narrator had no idea how to implement initially.
What resources were used for understanding the math behind the 3D donut project?
-The narrator used a blog post that explained the math and algorithms behind creating the 3D donut.
What was the first obstacle faced during the 3D donut project?
-The first obstacle was a segmentation fault error, which was caused by trying to access restricted areas in memory due to an out-of-bounds array access.
How was the segmentation fault error resolved?
-The error was resolved by adding a check to ensure that the array indices were within bounds.
What was the final step in completing the 3D donut project?
-The final step was animating the donut by using an endless loop that clears the screen and draws another frame.
What additional feature was added to improve the visual appearance of the 3D donut?
-Colors were added to the 3D donut using ANSI escape codes to improve its visual appearance.
What was the narrator's overall impression of Fortran after completing these projects?
-The narrator found Fortran to be a lovely language to play with, but was unsure about why it is still used today while newer technologies exist. The only dislike mentioned was the requirement to declare all variables at the start of the program.
Outlines
🤖 Exploring the Oldest Programming Language: Fortran
The narrator explains his interest in learning Fortran, the oldest programming language, after discovering its surprising presence alongside modern languages. He shares his research into Fortran's history, including its invention by IBM in 1957 to simplify writing assembly code. The narrator details setting up a compiler, learning basics like printing, variables, and loops, and his goal of creating a password generator, facing errors but ultimately succeeding.
🍩 Venturing into 3D Terminal Graphics: The Donut Project
Intrigued by spinning 3D donuts in terminals, the narrator embarks on a journey to recreate this visual effect using Fortran. He explains the math concepts involved, such as circles revolving around axes and rotation matrices. Despite challenges with debugging, out-of-bounds errors, and rendering frames, he perseveres and eventually animates the 3D donut. Finally, he enhances the visuals with colors using ANSI escape codes, reflecting on the language's continued use for legacy code while appreciating the learning experience.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Fortran
💡Assembly Language
💡Compiler
💡Password Generator
💡Segmentation Fault
💡Torus
💡Debugging
💡Refactoring
💡Terminal
💡Legacy Code
Highlights
The author decided to learn Fortran, one of the oldest programming languages, out of curiosity and a desire to gain knowledge, even if it meant sacrificing personal well-being.
The author's initial goal was to create a password generator program in Fortran, which involved generating random numbers, using character sets, and implementing loops.
The author encountered challenges with memory access errors and had to declare variables to avoid segmentation faults.
After successfully creating the password generator, the author decided to take on a more challenging project: building a 3D spinning donut in the terminal.
The author followed a blog post that explained the mathematics behind creating a 3D torus (donut shape) using rotation matrices and perspective projection.
Implementing the 3D donut in Fortran was not easy, even with the help of a friend and the studio code.
The author faced difficulties with array indexing in Fortran, leading to segmentation faults, which were resolved by adding bounds checking.
After overcoming challenges, the author successfully rendered a single frame of the 2D-ish 3D donut and then animated it with an endless loop.
The author added colors to the donut using ANSI escape codes, which required understanding character escaping in Fortran.
The author expressed satisfaction with learning Fortran but questioned why it is still being used today when there are newer technologies available.
The author disliked having to declare all variables at the start of the program in Fortran, as it lacked the flexibility of declaring variables anywhere else.
The transcript showcases the author's journey of learning an old programming language, facing challenges, and successfully creating a unique project while gaining knowledge and appreciation for the language.
The author's determination to learn Fortran and build a 3D spinning donut in the terminal demonstrates a passion for programming and a willingness to explore unconventional approaches.
The transcript provides insights into the process of learning an older programming language, highlighting the difficulties and obstacles encountered, as well as the problem-solving skills required to overcome them.
The author's decision to add colors to the donut project using ANSI escape codes showcases their creativity and desire to enhance the visual aspect of their work.
Transcripts
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