A magazine about programmers, code, and society. Written by and for humans since 2018.
By Adrian Kosmaczewski, March 3rd, 2025
Welcome to the 78th issue of De Programmatica Ipsum, about Computer Magazines. In this edition, we remind ourselves of a time when newsstands were a primary source of information for aspiring computer programmers; in the Library section, we review the work of Pastor Manul Laphroaig, T.G. S.B.; and in our Vidéothèque section, we relive the joy of copying code from magazines.
By Adrian Kosmaczewski, April 1st, 2024
Welcome to the sixty-seventh issue of De Programmatica Ipsum, about Text Editors. In this edition, we argue that "editor wars" are a pointless loss of time; in the Library section, we review "Code" by Charles Petzold; and in our Vidéothèque section, we watch a video from the Fireship channel.
By Adrian Kosmaczewski, February 5th, 2024
Welcome to the sixty-fifth issue of De Programmatica Ipsum, about the Pascal programming language. In this edition, we react to the sudden news of Niklaus Wirth's passing with memories of the past and perspectives of the present; in the Library section, we review "Classics in Software Engineering" by Edward Nash Yourdon; and in our Vidéothèque section, we watch some recent interviews of Niklaus Wirth himself.
By Adrian Kosmaczewski, January 1st, 2024
Welcome to the sixty-fourth issue of De Programmatica Ipsum, about Retrocomputing. In this edition, we look at the reasons behind the resurgence in popularity of retrocomputing; in the Library section, we review "Home Computers" by Alex Wiltshire and John Short; and in our Vidéothèque section, we watch some episodes of the TV show "Computer Chronicles".
By Adrian Kosmaczewski, August 7th, 2023
Welcome to the fifty-ninth issue of De Programmatica Ipsum, about the BASIC Programming Language. In this edition, we reconsider the role and importance of BASIC in the education of computer programmers; in the Library section, we review "Endless Loop" by Mark Jones Lorenzo; and in our Vidéothèque section, we review a commemorative video for the 50th anniversary of the BASIC programming language by Dartmouth College.
By Graham Lee, July 4th, 2022
Welcome to the forty-sixth issue of De Programmatica Ipsum, dedicated to the subject of Computer Museums. In this edition, Adrian visits four computer museums in Switzerland, Graham reflects about the importance of memory and the role of museums, and in the Library section, Adrian reviews William Aspray's biography of John von Neumann.
By Adrian Kosmaczewski, October 5th, 2020
Welcome to the twenty-fifth issue of De Programmatica Ipsum, starting our third year with a rediscovery of Smalltalk. In this edition, Graham explains that Smalltalk was not a pink plane improvement; Adrian dipped his toes in Smalltalk and wrote about his experience; and in the Library section, Graham describes the greatest contributions of Kent Beck to software engineering.
By Graham Lee, March 2nd, 2020
Welcome to the eighteenth issue of De Programmatica Ipsum, dedicated to the subject of Obsolescence. In this edition, Graham pleads for longer living computer systems, and an end to the prevailing tech consumerism, Adrian writes about the upcoming, unavoidable, greatest revolution in computing, and then in the Library section, explores Jean Sammet's 1969 opus "Programming Languages, History and Fundamentals."
