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Comment by rprend

Yes you get it. Obviously “writing code” will die. It will hold on in legacy systems that need bespoke maintenance, like COBOL systems have today. There will be artisanal coders, like there are artisanal blacksmiths, who do it the old fashioned way, and we will smile and encourage them. Within 20 years, writing code syntax will be like writing assembly: something they make you do in school, something that your dad reminds you about the good old days.

I talked to someone who was in denial about this, until he said he had conflated writing code with solving problems. Solving problems isn’t going anywhere! Solving problems: you observe a problem, write out a solution, implement that solution, measure the problem again, consider your metrics, then iterate.

“Implement it” can mean writing code, like the past 40 years, but it hasn’t always been. Before coding, it was economics and physics majors, who studied and implemented scientific management. For the next 20 years, it will be “describe the tool to Claude code and use the result”.

parent rprend 11 months ago

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