Side Of “Hello World”
We know exactly what’s about to happen when two dogs meet. They get a bit personal with the smelling. But to dogs, this meet and greet is an efficient first impression. And this being the first post for “SideOfCyber”, this is a sniff test for the reader, who can expect a whiff of tech, mixed with an aroma of personal back story, and history on a variety of cyber influenced topics.
In the world of coders and software programmers, there is an equally efficient sniff test for new programming languages that has blossomed beyond the coding culture. This is called “Hello World”.
History Bit: “Hello World” goes back to a Bell Laboratories memorandum written in 1974 by Brian Kernighan explaining how to code using the C programming language. It has since become the most common and prolific program ever written. Essentially nearly every developer has written “Hello World” in nearly every program they’ve tried.
“Hello World” is a simple concept, write some code that displays the words “Hello World”. This simple task can tell the programmer a lot about the language, and demonstrate their ability to compile and run the program with success. So it’s a sniff test. It’s the ability to figure out a lot, with very little effort.
I wrote my first “Hello World” back in 1982 on a Commodore Vic20 using a programming language called BASIC. The program I wrote back then, probably looked like this, which would continue to repeat “Hello World”, forever! The next task.. learn how to escape or end the program.
10 PRINT "HELLO WORLD"20 GOTO 10RUN
And for software today, “Hello World” just means any introductory program that does the basic functions needed. Not every app communicates text to a screen. A “Hello World” program for computer vision may have the computer recognize an object in a single frame of video. This is fundamentally what computer vision programs do.
For an IoT micro-controller, a “Hello World” program could simply blink an onboard LED on then off again. Similarly, this the main function of a micro-controller, turning switches on or off.
“Hello World” has since moved beyond the programmer world. With the information age touching all corners of our lives and experiences, these programmers included “Hello World” as a cultural expression for all sorts of things. The title image for this post is from a personal favorite DC character, and misfit hero Robotman of “Doom Patrol”. He famously wears the words “Hello World” on his t-shirt. He’s a human brain in a robot suit, and his shirt is sort of a cultural shout out to programmers who understand its roots. If there is a nerdy character in TV series or movie, you can bet someone on that show’s staff suggested they have a “Hello World” shirt, coffee mug, or socks.
“Hello World” is so prolific it’s difficult to search on the web for anything meaningful about “Hello World”. Some blog platforms auto-create your first blog post titled “Hello World”, and thus it might also be the most prolific title for blogs across all blog platforms.
Thus as both a cyber and mainstream “thing”, it’s appropriately the topic of my first post for “SideOfCyber”. Allowing me to road test the written word to you, and for you to get a sense of this series.
Here I will post a wide range of technology topics, from AI, VR, computer graphics, IoT, computer vision, programming and more. I’m lucky to have been involved with technology since the early 80s and been allowed to professionally dabble and experience a broad cyber landscape alongside brilliant developers across all areas of computing.
With that, I’ll provide context, backstory, and personal experience to give you a fresh look at many cyber-related topics. You don’t need to be a technologist. My hope is, the lingo, buzzwords, and technobabble you that proliferate mainstream culture, like “Hello World” will make a bit more sense. And if you are a technologist, you’ll recognize some familiar themes. I’ll be speaking your culture, and if you specialize in one area of tech, perhaps I’ll enlighten you on areas you’ve been curious about.
So that’s the sniff test. “Hello World” :-)
