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The Programmer Identity Crisis

(hojberg.xyz)
270 points imasl42 | 2 comments | 21 Oct 25 16:47 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source
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pteetor ◴[21 Oct 25 17:21 UTC] No.45658530[source]▶
When COBOL was born, some people said, "It's English! We won't need programmers anymore!"

When SQL was born, some people said, "It's English! We won't need programmers anymore!"

Now we have AI prompting, and some people are saying, "It's English! We won't need programmers anymore!"

Really?

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Legend2440 ◴[21 Oct 25 17:24 UTC] No.45658579[source]▶
The problem I have with this argument is that it actually is English this time.

COBOL and SQL aren't English, they're formal languages with keywords that look like English. LLMs work with informal language in a way that computers have never been able to before.

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1. skydhash ◴[21 Oct 25 17:28 UTC] No.45658661[source]▶
Say that to the prompt guys and their AGENT.md rules.

Formalism is way easier than whatever this guys are concocting. And true programmer bliss is live programming. Common programming is like writing a sheet music and having someone else play it. Live programming is you at the instrument tweaking each part.

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2. saxenaabhi ◴[21 Oct 25 17:54 UTC] No.45659120[source]▶
Yes natural languages are by nature ambiguous. Sometimes it's better to write specification in code rather than in a natural language(Jetbrains MPS for example).