Here's one concrete proposal: http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/cs/pdf/0103/0103009v3.pdf http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/cs/pdf/0103/0103009v3.pdf I strongly suspect, thoug

Here's one concrete proposal: http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/cs/pdf/0103/0103009v3.pdf http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/cs/pdf/0103/0103009v3.pdf I strongly suspect, though, that the answer is: The quantum magic will be packaged up into small black boxes that perform a modest range of tasks faster than they could be done classically, and programming will continue to consist mostly of writing classical code; it's just that there will be superfast implementations of a few useful things. That might change if the number of qubits we can put into a quantum computer ever gets comparable to the number of ordinary bits we can put into a classical computer. That'll take a while. (My suspicions and guesses are merely suspicions and guesses. I am not a quantum computing expert.)