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More and more software does not necessarily require more and more developers to write it.

SketchySeaBeast 4y ago
There's plenty of low code / no code solutions right now and somehow programmers are still trucking along (pun intended).
- johngalt_ 4y ago
  Not to mention someone has to code the no code tool, alongside all the plugins, scripts and glue code that at some point will be required.
- fsloth 4y ago
  Even with low code tools the percentage of people who will develop the tool will be low compared to the number of users.
- dgb23 4y ago
  No code is just "code with a fancy UI, a less powerful language and no or bad integration with common tooling". It doesn't replace programming, it _is_ programming. It's useful because it makes programming more accessible and in some cases the visual representation has benefits over text. I see more and more professional fields and application interfaces adopting things like SQL, Python, Notebooks (Jupyter etc.), JavaScript etc. Excel is obviously huge. A ton of technicians that work with physical stuff are also writing code in embedded interfaces or on large screens even. Programming is not a thing only software developers do.
- ehnto 4y ago
  Software developers are often more like solutions specialists who's tool is software, you would need the same skillsets to solve business problems with lowcode, but code is at this point still the tool of choice for those teams of solutions specialists. Think of it this way, even if it were possible to run an enterprise through lowcode tools, an enterprise would still hire an agency or consulting firm to build it, and so the decision of what tools to use still goes to the specialists.
ivanbakel 4y ago
> More and more software does not necessarily require more and more developers to write it. It has so far. We might have expected the massive gains in developer productivity over the last 70 years to have resulted in the demand for new developers slowing down at some point, but it hasn't. In a very typical way, more supply just gets eaten up by more demand - if at any point we can afford to have fewer developers, we'll just end up writing even more software with the excess capacity. It's hard to imagine a point of diminishing returns on software, since it's so useful in basically every walk of life.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 4y ago
  > It has so far. We might have expected the massive gains in developer productivity over the last 70 years to have resulted in the demand for new developers slowing down at some point, but it hasn't. Recently there has been an explosive transformation from software as a user and productivity focused industry into an adtech one, which has increased demand temporarily. > In a very typical way, more supply just gets eaten up by more demand Sure, but increasing supply also means decreasing price by that same model. Decreasing price means less money for developers, meaning less people are incentivized to become developers, leading to equilibrium. Of course, that's a very simplistic model.

There's plenty of low code / no code solutions right now and somehow programmers are still trucking along (pun intended).

johngalt_ 4y ago
Not to mention someone has to code the no code tool, alongside all the plugins, scripts and glue code that at some point will be required.
fsloth 4y ago
Even with low code tools the percentage of people who will develop the tool will be low compared to the number of users.
dgb23 4y ago
No code is just "code with a fancy UI, a less powerful language and no or bad integration with common tooling". It doesn't replace programming, it _is_ programming. It's useful because it makes programming more accessible and in some cases the visual representation has benefits over text. I see more and more professional fields and application interfaces adopting things like SQL, Python, Notebooks (Jupyter etc.), JavaScript etc. Excel is obviously huge. A ton of technicians that work with physical stuff are also writing code in embedded interfaces or on large screens even. Programming is not a thing only software developers do.
ehnto 4y ago
Software developers are often more like solutions specialists who's tool is software, you would need the same skillsets to solve business problems with lowcode, but code is at this point still the tool of choice for those teams of solutions specialists. Think of it this way, even if it were possible to run an enterprise through lowcode tools, an enterprise would still hire an agency or consulting firm to build it, and so the decision of what tools to use still goes to the specialists.

ivanbakel 4y ago

> More and more software does not necessarily require more and more developers to write it. It has so far. We might have expected the massive gains in developer productivity over the last 70 years to have resulted in the demand for new developers slowing down at some point, but it hasn't. In a very typical way, more supply just gets eaten up by more demand - if at any point we can afford to have fewer developers, we'll just end up writing even more software with the excess capacity. It's hard to imagine a point of diminishing returns on software, since it's so useful in basically every walk of life.

AnIdiotOnTheNet 4y ago
> It has so far. We might have expected the massive gains in developer productivity over the last 70 years to have resulted in the demand for new developers slowing down at some point, but it hasn't. Recently there has been an explosive transformation from software as a user and productivity focused industry into an adtech one, which has increased demand temporarily. > In a very typical way, more supply just gets eaten up by more demand Sure, but increasing supply also means decreasing price by that same model. Decreasing price means less money for developers, meaning less people are incentivized to become developers, leading to equilibrium. Of course, that's a very simplistic model.