I’ve worked as service technician for various dealers for about 16 years. I’ve dabbled with various computer languages over the years but never got serious about it. After you make a few VB6 card games or follow the examples in a book or make a few websites for fun there isn’t really much to do with your new found skills. It wasn’t until I joined Gosiger about 5 years ago that I was able to combine my budding passion for programming with something I knew something about, CNC’s.
Beginning my adventures in programming
It was a rough start for me. I had never used Visual Studio and I didn’t have anyone to help me. This was before Jimi took the position of Corporate THINC guy so I didn’t have anyone to bounce ideas off of or answer my many questions. The only thing I had to go on was a beta version of the API that Joe Alhafi from Okuma had given to me. It was a tough but fun adventure. If you think, like I once did, that the best place to start is with the Okuma API test program think again. Start with one of the many, many good tutorials available online. Google truly is the beginner’s best friend. I’d also recommend www.stackoverflow.com. It’s a great place to ask questions.
Since starting I’ve really benefited from getting to know some guys who started out pretty much the same way I did. Guys like Jimi Brown and Ken Cobb. Casey Crossure endured an innumerable number of my dumb questions and has been a big help. Chris Wezyk, who is a genius and a great guy (a rare combination) has been a big help and inspiration.
My hope is that we can add some content on this blog that will help others like us get started and to show people the potential of the THINC control.
Thincster 