Article:		The Blacksmith and the Bookkeeper, Part 3
Subject:		not an extinction, an evolution
Date:		2004-10-13 16:28:50
From:		smbell
We no longer have blacksmiths to take care of horses, we now have massive automotive design teams and mechanics on every corner. Programming is not on its way out, it is being given more powerful tools all the time to create far more complex and useful tools than it possibly could have just 10 years ago. The skills required for programming are not really all that different. You have some method for storing information, usually both temporary and permanent. You have some means to perform operations on that stored data. You have some means to deliver the results to some interface. Whether you are working on an embedded system where you actually can direct the physical location of information, or on a web app where you have no clue all the different systems that will utilize your product this remains the same. Our basic job as programmers is to process data. I find one of the most complex portions of most business projects is perfecting the display of data and providing the appropriate means for interaction with the user. In an embedded system the user has very limited means of interaction (try programming your VCR player without the remote). With larger systems the advantage is the ability to provide ideal user interaction usually running on the largest variety of hardware. It is flexability and usability that you could never get on the old AGC. Embedded systems have moved from the realm of primary applications to small 'simple' niche applications. (I have done some embedded programming and know that simple is not really true)