The humble programmer

TL;DR: As a result of a long sequence of coincidences I entered the programming profession officially on the first spring morning of 1952, and as far as I have been able to trace, I was the first Dutchman to do so in my country.

Abstract: In my opinion, Dijkstra's "Humble Programmer" ought to be required reading for everyone who claims that programming is his or her profession. To me, it ranks as one of the great classics in the field, providing an educational experience for the junior programmer, and truly delightful reading for the veteran. It serves as a wonderful reminder of the good old days of the computer field, and offers an excellent summary of the philosophies and guiding principles by which we try to do our jobs. The concepts expressed are eloquent and profound, sometimes controversial, and generally thought-provoking. I worry that some of the most eloquent remarks cannot be appreciated by today's programmers: For example, Dijkstra says, " . . . when we had a few weak computers, programming became a mild problem, and now that we have gigantic computers, programming has become an equally gigantic problem." Most of us who began our careers on 1K or 4K machines will smile in appreciation, but will the remarks mean anything to the programmer of the 1980s who will begin his or her career on a 16-megabyte computer? When Dijkstra states, " . . . one of the most important aspects of any computing tool is its influence on the thinking habits of those who try to use it," I wonder whether today's hobbyist programmer, with his buildit- at-home computer and subset of BASIC, has any idea of what Dijkstra is talking about. There are the controversial comments, too: For instance, Dijkstra refers to FORTRAN as an infantile disorder, and PL/I as a fatal disease. Curiously enough, even though he praises such obscure languages as LISP, he does not seem to acknowledge the existence of the two languages that account for probably 75 percent of all the computer programs written today: COBOL and RPG. It is in this paper as well that Dijkstra suggests that the primary resistance to the so-called structured revolution will come from educational institutions, and from the political backlash of an EDP organization that would prefer to maintain the status quo. I personally agree with this, having experienced such resistance first-hand in my own work as a consultant and educator. You may or may not agree, but you certainly will find Dijkstra's comments worth reading.