The Future of Programming Is in Your Words, Not Your Code

My goal in this blog is to share current reflections, ideas, and interviews about Programmers At

Work, the evolution and practice of programming, and other ideas that catch my attention and

spur conversation. The changes and disruption in the programming space today offer much to

consider.

One pleasure of having this 40th Anniversary Edition released has been getting back in touch

with the programmers I featured in the book. They have made and continue to make significant

contributions to their fields of endeavor, whether in computing, philanthropy, history, or the

pleasures of music, photography, sailing, and the freedom of life beyond the daily working world.

You can read more about their current interests on their pages.

Many of them wrote reflections on what they shared back in the ‘80s in light of today, and I will

be sharing those in the future.

Looking through their interviews, I was struck by how many discussed Artificial Intelligence back

in 1985, when “Expert Systems” were emerging and looking powerful. It’s fascinating to read

their insights and opinions from that era about AI. The future is notoriously difficult to predict, but

you will find several of these programmers—including Bill Gates—discussing how computers

would eventually take over much of the work of programmers. They optimistically predicted it

would happen within 10 years. Here we are, 40 years later, wrestling with this very topic as

programmers wonder whether their craft and livelihood are threatened. While the threat is real,

the response may be to reimagine what it means to be a programmer in this age of powerful

coding tools—and let some things go. It could be liberating.

Of course there is also the flourishing of “vibe coding” projects—even I have gotten involved

with a games project in this space. Vibe coding has opened up software development to a much

larger range of skills and people, spurring interesting collaborations and startup efforts.

The language of programming is becoming more like English. Well-formulated articulations of a

concept or program design are essential. Articulation is becoming the core skill. Bob Frankston,

IEEE scholar and co-inventor of VisiCalc, said, “If you cannot explain a program to yourself, the

chance of the computer getting it right is pretty small.” That’s as true today with AI tools as it

was in 1985 when Frankston described the importance at the outset of sketching out

frameworks.

Steve Yegge, author of Vibe Coding and a seasoned engineer and AI coder, said recently, “It’s

becoming harder to come by people or programmers who like to read. Most people don’t read

much. Yet working with Claude Code makes you read a lot! Everyone who can’t read is going to

be at a severe disadvantage. Claude generates waterfalls of text that you have to wade through.

Most folks these days regard 5 paragraphs as an essay.” Yegge said with a laugh as if that’s a

trifle of what’s demanded. He made this observation in a podcast interview with The Pragmatic

Engineer.

I’m already past the fifth paragraph, so I had better wrap this up. My invitation is for you to read

these interviews to see how the programmers of the PC era approached the design and

development of software. Powerful AI coding tools are reshaping what it means to be a

programmer. Yet I believe that in many ways the job of the programmer is returning to its

roots—when the pioneers knew their constraints intimately and held their entire concepts in their

heads, diagrammed their structures, and only once they had it all worked out did they sit down

to let the code flow. Today you may not have to do all the grind work of coding, but you do need

to know how to use words precisely to describe what you want to accomplish and be able to

articulate it to AI and your collaborators. Reading some of the best in the PC era describe how

they go about it will inspire, enlighten, and empower you.

Jaron Lanier, futurist and pioneer in Virtual Reality, discussed in his 1985 interview the need to

broaden who can program in order to make personal computers more accessible and useful to

everyone. He spoke of seeing the day when “people would speak and breathe programs.” His

interview is truly fascinating in light of what has emerged on our technological landscape. The

40th Anniversary Edition of Programmers At Work arrives at an important inflection point in our

technological world, just as a wave of change is upon us. Enjoy!