Click here to Skip to main content
15,889,281 members

Survey Results

Will programming become more or less complex in the future?   [Edit]

Survey period: 12 Sep 2011 to 19 Sep 2011

Our modern IDEs make life so much easier, but issues such as security, parallelism and bloated APIs make life harder. Which way will the balance tip overall?

OptionVotes% 
Programming will become extremely simple515.20
Programming will become simpler979.89
Specifics will change but overall the complexity of the job will stay the same54355.35
Programming will become more complex14414.68
Programming will become so complex that further specialisation in skills will be needed14614.88



 
GeneralRe: Nobody thinks it will get simpler Pin
QuiJohn12-Sep-11 2:33
QuiJohn12-Sep-11 2:33 
GeneralRe: Nobody thinks it will get simpler Pin
Vivi Chellappa14-Sep-11 16:53
professionalVivi Chellappa14-Sep-11 16:53 
GeneralRe: Nobody thinks it will get simpler Pin
OriginalGriff12-Sep-11 4:20
mveOriginalGriff12-Sep-11 4:20 
GeneralProgramming is the easy part... PinPopular
Reiss11-Sep-11 23:24
professionalReiss11-Sep-11 23:24 
GeneralOnce I perfect my Machine/Mind interface Pin
Mycroft Holmes11-Sep-11 21:57
professionalMycroft Holmes11-Sep-11 21:57 
GeneralRe: Once I perfect my Machine/Mind interface Pin
OriginalGriff11-Sep-11 23:29
mveOriginalGriff11-Sep-11 23:29 
GeneralRe: Once I perfect my Machine/Mind interface Pin
Mycroft Holmes12-Sep-11 0:55
professionalMycroft Holmes12-Sep-11 0:55 
GeneralBoth! PinPopular
OriginalGriff11-Sep-11 21:41
mveOriginalGriff11-Sep-11 21:41 
Programming has become more complex, and simpler to do, in tandem as it has evolved so far. I see no reason why this should change.

In the beginning, (are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin...)
When you programmed, you had to know exactly how the hardware worked, and what you could do with it. You had to write pretty much everything from scratch, starting with the routine to get a key from the user, debounce it, autorepeat it, and convert it into a character your program could understand. Then you could write the routine to get a number of these characters, then the routine to convert some of those into numbers, then... Anyone who doesn't think this was complex didn't do it!
There was not a lot of code-reuse in the early days - when it came in, in the form of libraries to do that basic stuff, it made our lives a whole lot simpler. So we could move on to more complex ways of using those libraries. Databases for instance - in the early days, a database was a stack of cards with (if you were lucky) a device to spit them into piles...

As we have moved on, we have made it simpler and simpler, and easier and easier to get into programming - look at Q&A if you don't believe me - but increased the complexity of what you do with the computer and the software at the same time - the simpler we make it, the more complex end result we can produce.

Will this end? No, I don't think so. Computers are more complex, but simpler to use. The tools we use are more complex, but simpler to use. And the same goes for the end result!
Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together.

Manfred R. Bihy: "Looks as if OP is learning resistant."

GeneralRe: Both! Pin
DaveAuld12-Sep-11 0:36
professionalDaveAuld12-Sep-11 0:36 
GeneralRe: Both! Pin
OriginalGriff12-Sep-11 0:40
mveOriginalGriff12-Sep-11 0:40 
GeneralA good old fashion delete Pin
S Houghtelin12-Sep-11 3:06
professionalS Houghtelin12-Sep-11 3:06 
GeneralRe: A good old fashion delete Pin
OriginalGriff12-Sep-11 3:15
mveOriginalGriff12-Sep-11 3:15 
GeneralRe: A good old fashion delete Pin
S Houghtelin12-Sep-11 4:00
professionalS Houghtelin12-Sep-11 4:00 
GeneralRe: A good old fashion delete Pin
OriginalGriff12-Sep-11 4:14
mveOriginalGriff12-Sep-11 4:14 
GeneralRe: Both! Pin
Mehdi Gholam12-Sep-11 0:45
Mehdi Gholam12-Sep-11 0:45 
GeneralA page from nature Pin
Mehdi Gholam11-Sep-11 19:52
Mehdi Gholam11-Sep-11 19:52 
GeneralRe: A page from nature Pin
Rob Grainger12-Sep-11 0:19
Rob Grainger12-Sep-11 0:19 
GeneralRe: A page from nature Pin
W Balboos, GHB12-Sep-11 1:32
W Balboos, GHB12-Sep-11 1:32 
GeneralRe: A page from nature Pin
Rob Grainger12-Sep-11 0:19
Rob Grainger12-Sep-11 0:19 
GeneralRe: A page from nature Pin
Mehdi Gholam12-Sep-11 0:42
Mehdi Gholam12-Sep-11 0:42 
GeneralIt will become complex due to excess of APIs Pin
Aniruddha Loya11-Sep-11 19:32
Aniruddha Loya11-Sep-11 19:32 
GeneralAs you don't specify timeframe... Pin
nmarcel11-Sep-11 18:25
nmarcel11-Sep-11 18:25 
GeneralRe: As you don't specify timeframe... Pin
Larry Ness12-Sep-11 9:06
Larry Ness12-Sep-11 9:06 

General General    News News    Suggestion Suggestion    Question Question    Bug Bug    Answer Answer    Joke Joke    Praise Praise    Rant Rant    Admin Admin   

Use Ctrl+Left/Right to switch messages, Ctrl+Up/Down to switch threads, Ctrl+Shift+Left/Right to switch pages.