Flash Back

RE: Flash Back

cstanton — Mon, 09 Mar 2020 11:32:22 GMT

Wouldn't automation of the actual programming be a sign of the rise of genuine artificial intelligence? Short of programming being a direct translation of natural language instruction?

Current artificial intelligence isn't much more than logic states, however you rarely hear about software or hardware being created with the ability to reprogramme itself.

RE: Flash Back

Jan Cumps — Sat, 07 Mar 2020 08:51:01 GMT

Google has also automated big parts of the exercise.

It replaced “develop a library” with “apt-get install library” or “pip get library” and copy/paste.

I think Google is the biggest software reuse initiative. The number #1 code writing eliminator.

RE: Flash Back

Andrew J — Sat, 07 Mar 2020 08:45:03 GMT

Automation of the mundane/rote elements of software has been for a long time, as Doug references above. 4GLs have been around as long as I remember.

I have access to an interesting book from 1959: Programming Programme for the BESM Computer by A.P. ERSHOV. This presents the results of one of the first experiments to develop a programming programme for electronic computers. The work was carried out initially in the Institute of Precision Mechanics and Calculation Techniques in the USSR Academy of Sciences and subsequently and then Computation Centre of the Academy. BESM (Bolshaya Elektronno-Schetnaya Mashina) is a universal digital 3-address machine, carrying out 8-10 thousand operations on the average.

Alan Turing’s paper on computers described an approach whereby the machine itself would ‘program’ itself as it computated through a paper tape of data and instructions, writing new data and instruction onto the tape.

Even back in the day, then, they were looking at this! I think programmers’ jobs are safe still.

RE: Flash Back

dougw — Fri, 06 Mar 2020 14:41:32 GMT

Software and programming has been increasingly automated ever since the days of hand assembly.

How much do libraries automate the process?

With configurable OCX's in VB you hardly had to write any code to make very complex applications.

A lot of programs in the near future will be "written" by dragging a bunch of libraries into a repository, defining some input and what output is required and presto ... the job is done.

That won't spell the end of software design and programming, if anything it might increase the demand for programmers, but lots of coding by the masses will be essentially automated.