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Programming will look extremely similar. Compare programming in 2000 vs programming today, what changed? We used C in 2000 and now we use Go. The problem with

by Sevii 6y ago

Programming will look extremely similar. Compare programming in 2000 vs programming today, what changed? We used C in 2000 and now we use Go. The problem with visual programming is that it doesn't scale past the size of your display. We have been capable of data flow programming with a gui for over a decade, it just isn't a great way to program complex systems. I expect there will be more code and more of it will be written in languages like go. The biggest constraint on programming is comprehending big code bases, and languages like Go help with that. We need an actual advance in programming to avoid a future that looks like today except with 10x as much code to understand before you can do anything.

Sevii 6y ago
To give a more explicit prediction. I expect to see more 'corporate' languages like Go and Hack. Languages designed explicitly for the 'massive software company' use case, with a focus on simplicity and readability. We might even see languages targeted at company sizes. Like here is the A language for getting prototypes out the door and here is language B which is the one you port to after your company becomes a unicorn and wants to grow the engineering team size to the 1000s.
- kyawzazaw 6y ago
  Not to be HN-typical but what do you think about Rust? I find it extremely interesting that some of the top language maintainers/designers are now employed at different big tech companies.
  - Sevii 6y ago
    I really like the idea of rust. The set of language feature they combined is great. The projects I've tried with it haven't gone well, due to some of the http framework libraries I was using having obscure typing. I plan on trying some more projects with it, but racket is probably the next language I'll try.
AnimalMuppet 6y ago
> Compare programming in 2000 vs programming today, what changed? We used C in 2000 and now we use Go. Less even than that. C is more used than Go, even today. > We need an actual advance in programming to avoid a future that looks like today except with 10x as much code to understand before you can do anything. The future looks like better, more powerful libraries. You'll have 10x as much code, but you won't actually have to know 90% of it. (Until there's a library bug that matters to your program...)

by Sevii 6y ago

Sevii 6y ago

To give a more explicit prediction. I expect to see more 'corporate' languages like Go and Hack. Languages designed explicitly for the 'massive software company' use case, with a focus on simplicity and readability. We might even see languages targeted at company sizes. Like here is the A language for getting prototypes out the door and here is language B which is the one you port to after your company becomes a unicorn and wants to grow the engineering team size to the 1000s.

kyawzazaw 6y ago
Not to be HN-typical but what do you think about Rust? I find it extremely interesting that some of the top language maintainers/designers are now employed at different big tech companies.
- Sevii 6y ago
  I really like the idea of rust. The set of language feature they combined is great. The projects I've tried with it haven't gone well, due to some of the http framework libraries I was using having obscure typing. I plan on trying some more projects with it, but racket is probably the next language I'll try.

AnimalMuppet 6y ago

> Compare programming in 2000 vs programming today, what changed? We used C in 2000 and now we use Go. Less even than that. C is more used than Go, even today. > We need an actual advance in programming to avoid a future that looks like today except with 10x as much code to understand before you can do anything. The future looks like better, more powerful libraries. You'll have 10x as much code, but you won't actually have to know 90% of it. (Until there's a library bug that matters to your program...)