Visual programming languages will only take you so far, but often that is far enough. What the author misses is that we as professional programmers miss the success stories, because we only get called in when the boundaries have been reached.
In my career I’ve often been asked to rewrite Access DBs, InfoPath forms, or SharePoint sites developed by amateurs into something more usable. My early reactions where along the lines of “what insane person tried to do this in Access.” I realized at some point that was the wrong approach in my thinking. These systems are working software delivering value. I now say “wow, congrats on doing so much on your own. Let me help you take this further.”
In my career I’ve often been asked to rewrite Access DBs, InfoPath forms, or SharePoint sites developed by amateurs into something more usable. My early reactions where along the lines of “what insane person tried to do this in Access.” I realized at some point that was the wrong approach in my thinking. These systems are working software delivering value. I now say “wow, congrats on doing so much on your own. Let me help you take this further.”