::Core Wars 20th birthday:: [/tech/misc] (23:57)

While 1984 is meaning to some for other reasons, I will always remember it for the the publication of A K Dewdney's first Core Wars article in Scientific American. I had taught myself to code a few years prior, but Core Wars was like nothing I had ever seen before. The thought of writing living programs to do battle with eachother was more exciting than anything I could imagine doing on my trusty C64. Of course, Core Wars was just a dream at the time. I didn't have the software to play, nor did I really have the skills at the time to play. But, it was all I needed to get serious about learning to program.

I got by writing Core Wars programs on paper and simulating battles as best as I could. But it would be several years later in high school before I found the Core Wars software and was able to write my own. The short-lived Core Wars Newsletter helped keep my interest, but the real fun was much later when William Shubert (who I later met on the Go servers) wrote the first King of the Hill Core Wars arena.

I didn't continue playing Core Wars for long. Other computer interests eclipsed it. But I can say that Core Wars was instrumental in shaping my early interest in programming. For that, I wish Core Wars a happy 20th birthday.