I think that's an honourable but unattainable persuit. A huge part of the problem is the messiness of the real world and costs. While there may be a finite se

I think that's an honourable but unattainable persuit. A huge part of the problem is the messiness of the real world and costs. While there may be a finite set of fundamental problems, the set of possible hardware and software platforms is ever increasing and each has it's own constraints and strengths. A "universal programming environment" would need something like a "universal hardware interface". That's why things like Java and the Web became so popular despite their poor design. Also, visual programming is a hard thing to make work and human language skills seem to be far greater than human visual skills. Perhaps the best that can be done is "starting from zero" and making sure everything, from the ICs in your hardware to the memory models behind your software is thoroughly tested and formally verified. This is insanely expensive with current technology. Perhaps some fancy math and AI advancements can make formal verification powerful enough for ubiquitous use. Until then, I see little hope for a "universal programming environment".