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Software Vault: The Sapphire Collection
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Software Vault (Sapphire Collection) (Digital Impact).ISO
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FEATURE1
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1994-09-08
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6KB
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110 lines
The End Of Programmers?!
by Hugh W. (Chip) Cox
I was talking about how I wanted to get back into programming
and out of support with one of my cousins the other day. He
informed me that programmers are not needed any more. "There are
hundreds of programs out there that write programs for you. Support
is the place to be," he said. Personally, I don't think so. At
least I definitely hope he is not right. The office managers and
CEOs are saying, "I can create my own spread sheets; I can write my
own database queries." Even some programmers are saying that Visual
Basic does most of the work for you. It won't be long until
something comes out that can do it all. I am not saying that
non-software companies will always have programming departments. In
addition, I strongly believe that support is an often overlooked
need in our industry.
However, there are a couple of reasons I don't believe that
programming will die anytime soon. First and foremost, programming
will be kept in tact to make corporate America money. Who out there
thinks that XYZ Corp. will stop producing new operating systems or
environments? Who thinks ABC INC. will stop coming up with new
more powerful chip designs with more features?
Each new operating system or environment has a new set of
functions available to end users. Not to mention the fact that XYZ
Corp. will have to keep a couple of programmers on hand to write
the new operating systems. XYZ Corp. will also probably not do
things the way that everyone wants them done. Some people, due to a
protest vote or something, may not want to buy XYZ Corp.'s version
of the operating system. Programmers will be called on again to put
the new features now available into a different package with the
look and feel they want. New compilers will also be needed to
produce new versions of products that take advantage of the new
features available in the new operating system on the new chip.
Guess what?
Programmers will have to write significant portions of the code
for these new compilers. Other programmers will have to use these
new compilers to write their new applications. Even the programs
that write programs will have to be rewritten by programmers to take
advantage of the new features. Secondly, twelve year old kids! Do
you realize how many ideas were initially voiced by the children of
programmers? My three year old already knows what a mouse is (not
the furry thing on the ground eating cheese). Granted, he uses a
keyboard to hit his brother, but he is starting to get interested in
non-violent uses for a computer. By the time he is eight, he will
be fighting me for time on my computer. By the time he is twelve,
he will be coming up with new ideas of things he wants a computer to
do.
Some of these ideas, while decidedly juvenile, will find their
ways into the mainstream of corporate America. Better graphics in
shoot-em-up games led to the technology used in today's animated
movies and corporate product demonstration software. Games that
simulate flight result in better techniques to enhance flight
trainers. Guess who gets to produce most of these things? You've
got it, programmers!
The problem with most of the software packages that write
programs for you is that they don't know anything about new
techniques. The twelve year old in all of us is responsible for the
dream of what could be. The dream of what a computer can accomplish
for us. After all, the more work the computer does for us, the
sooner we can get out to play golf, watch the baseball players
strike, or play Doom.
Finally, and this is strictly my belief, I like programming. To
me it is an art form. It is a wonderful experience to start with a
blank screen and a dream of what could be and make the dream
reality. Programming incorporates almost every aspect of life. The
joy of seeing a dream made real. The frustration of undocumented
system calls and compiler bugs (features). The exhaustion of 20
hours typing behind a keyboard. The pains in your wrist from typing
all day. The amazement of what comes out when you disengage your
mind and let your fingers type. Every feature you give programmers
becomes a challenge, and every challenge is an opportunity. As most
people, programmers thrive on the challenges and changes of life.
Programmers love to find the answers that make life easy again.
Programmers will always find something that needs to be done better,
and they will work at making it happen. Programmers are idealists
and dreamers.
lf Star Trek and Commander Data become reality and computers
begin to dream, programmers will continue weaving the dreams of
society into reality. If you think about it, someone even had to
program Commander Data. :-)
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