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> Did assemblers result in programmers losing their jobs? Did compilers? Of course they did. We used to have "systems analysts" drawing flowcharts, "programmer

> Did assemblers result in programmers losing their jobs? Did compilers? Of course they did. We used to have "systems analysts" drawing flowcharts, "programmers" converting those to machine code (or later FORTRAN) on punch cards, and "operators" collating card decks or mounting tapes. That's a ton of grunt work we no longer hire for. If those people found other roles, it's because the nascent computer industry was expanding faster than the most uncreative jobs disappeared. There was resistance to the first assembler programs because machine time was more precious than having grad students do it by hand.

perl4ever 7y ago
Every time someone does something new at work, they "lost their job" in a manner of speaking. But to equate that with the ordinary sense of losing a job seems like sophistry to me. As a programmer, you shouldn't be doing anything more than once if possible, which means every task should be new.
- erik_seaberg 7y ago
  "Here's an algorithm, translate it to opcodes for this machine" used to be a full-time job for human beings. They weren't designing software the way we do, they were compiling what someone else had already designed. Our role is automating rote work, but we have to accept that we're ending the demand for certain jobs. Not every programmer became a systems analyst.
  - perl4ever 7y ago
    That is the same job as any programmer does today. I've done it, in the absence of an assembler, so I think I should know. I also know that programmers in the 50s who were thought of as like secretaries, adjuncts to the real thinkers/designers/engineers were basically the same as programmers today, not FAANG programmers, but mundane business programmers. You want an AI to program? Give it this and watch it go all HAL 9000: https://www.bountysource.com/issues/8705271-no-support-for-multi-page-unbreakableblocks https://www.bountysource.com/issues/8705271-no-support-for-m... ...you want to...break...unbreakable blocks?? Sure. You know, do what I mean, not what I say... Programming is a social activity, and programmers are not computers.

perl4ever 7y ago

Every time someone does something new at work, they "lost their job" in a manner of speaking. But to equate that with the ordinary sense of losing a job seems like sophistry to me. As a programmer, you shouldn't be doing anything more than once if possible, which means every task should be new.

erik_seaberg 7y ago
"Here's an algorithm, translate it to opcodes for this machine" used to be a full-time job for human beings. They weren't designing software the way we do, they were compiling what someone else had already designed. Our role is automating rote work, but we have to accept that we're ending the demand for certain jobs. Not every programmer became a systems analyst.
- perl4ever 7y ago
  That is the same job as any programmer does today. I've done it, in the absence of an assembler, so I think I should know. I also know that programmers in the 50s who were thought of as like secretaries, adjuncts to the real thinkers/designers/engineers were basically the same as programmers today, not FAANG programmers, but mundane business programmers. You want an AI to program? Give it this and watch it go all HAL 9000: https://www.bountysource.com/issues/8705271-no-support-for-multi-page-unbreakableblocks https://www.bountysource.com/issues/8705271-no-support-for-m... ...you want to...break...unbreakable blocks?? Sure. You know, do what I mean, not what I say... Programming is a social activity, and programmers are not computers.