Technically, the first program I wrote was for my friend's homebrew Z80. But that was a one-shot deal. I wrote the assembler code for a space invaders style game, flashed it to a ROM, and ran it. It almost worked. I never got the chance to fix it.
Some time later, I bought the Atari 800 and the 6502 Assembler cartridge to write code. I was a poor schlub but I charged it on my credit card for $500. It was the bare bones model with a connection for a cassette tape. I never upgraded to a floppy drive. The next week, the same Atari 800 was available for $129. That's my luck. Regardless, I consider the Atari 800 officially the first personal computer for which I wrote code. At home, I wrote 6502 assembler, at work I wrote Z80 assembler. Once you know one kind of assembler, it's easy to learn another.
The next computer was an AT&T PC based on the 80286 processor. I picked up a copy of Borland Turbo Pascal and had a blast with it. I wrote several programs, some practical, some games. My favorite game project was a do-it-yourself crossword puzzle maker. I absolutely loved Turbo Pascal.
So, how about you? What was your first personal computer you used to write code for fun or profit?
