(Taken from eunet.jokes)

The Evolution of a Programmer


High School/Jr.High
        10 PRINT "HELLO WORLD"
        20 END
First year in College
         program Hello(input, output)
          begin
             writeln('Hello World')
          end.
Senior year in College
         (defun hello
          (print
           (cons 'Hello (list 'World))))
New professional
        #include 
        void main(void)
         {
          char *message[] = {"Hello ", "World"};
           int i;

           for(i = 0; i < 2; ++i)
             printf("%s", message[i]);
           printf("\n");
        }
Seasoned professional
        #include 
        #include 
        class string
        {
         private:
          int size;
          char *ptr;
         public:
           string() : size(0), ptr(new char('\0')) {}
           string(const string &s) : size(s.size)
          {
           ptr = new char[size + 1];
           strcpy(ptr, s.ptr);
           }
           ~string()
          {
           delete [] ptr;
           }
           friend ostream &operator <<(ostream &, const string &);
           string &operator=(const char *);
          };
         ostream &operator<<(ostream &stream, const string &s)
         {
           return(stream << s.ptr);
         }
         string &string::operator=(const char *chrs)
         {
          if (this != &chrs)
           {
            delete [] ptr;
          size = strlen(chrs);
          ptr = new char[size + 1];
             strcpy(ptr, chrs);
          }
           return(*this);
        }
        int main()
         {
           string str;
           str = "Hello World";
           cout << str << endl;
           return(0);
         }
Apprentice Hacker
 #!/usr/local/bin/perl
 $msg="Hello, world.\n";
 if ($#ARGV >= 0) {
   while(defined($arg=shift(@ARGV))) {
     $outfilename = $arg;
     open(FILE, ">" . $outfilename) || die "Can't write $arg: $!\n";
     print (FILE $msg);
     close(FILE) || die "Can't close $arg: $!\n";
   }
 } else {
   print ($msg);
 }
 1;
Experienced Hacker
 #include 
 #define S "Hello, World\n"
 main(){exit(printf(S) == strlen(S) ? 0 : 1);}
Seasoned Hacker
 % cc -o a.out ~/src/misc/hw/hw.c
 % a.out
Guru Hacker
 % cat
 Hello, world.
 ^D
New Manager
 10 PRINT "HELLO WORLD"
 20 END
Middle Manager
 mail -s "Hello, world." bob@b12
 Bob, could you please write me a program that prints "Hello, world."?
 I need it by tomorrow.
 ^D
Senior Manager
 % zmail jim
 I need a "Hello, world." program by this afternoon.
Chief Executive
 % letter
 letter: Command not found.
 % mail
 To: ^X ^F ^C
 % help mail
 help: Command not found.
 % damn!
 !: Event unrecognized
 % logout