College of Alameda
Copyright © 2006 Patrick McDermott
pmcdermott@peralta.edu
Anders Hejlsberg:
[“Father” of C#]: I guess I’m
becoming less and less of a believer in revolutionary
approaches to language design. It really is amazing how
much the capabilities of computing have evolved, yet
we’re basically still using the same kinds of
programming languages. It gives me hope that we can
go even further with an evolutionary approach where
we don’t just invalidate all the work that went before.
Robert Glass
:
Hype
, and the notion of
one
-
size
-
fits
-
all
undermine out ability to put together project
-
focused, strong, sensible solutions. We continue to seek
the Holy Grail while knowledgeable people tell us over
and over again that we are not going to find it.
More Moore?
•
Array
of 100 items versus
100,000,000
–
No person on earth owned such a computer
–
Both arrays took me about as long to program
•
If Moore’s Law is correct
–
2011
is
47,453,133
times
1960 (Cobol released)
–
Autos don’t get 1,000,000,000,000 mpg
–
But if
there was a Microsoft
® Auto
•
Freeze every 1,000 miles or so,
needs
to be restarted
•
Every
10,000
miles or so
, blows
up killing all
aboard
If
builders built buildings the way programmers write
programs, then the first woodpecker that came along
would destroy civilization.
Software
•
If Software was like Hardware
–
No one would need to be “a programmer”
•
“
The
(part
-
time) programmer for the world”
–
New programmer == 1 billion old programmers!
•
We can do things we couldn’t
–
But not
50 billion
times as good
–
All advances essentially due to Hardware
•
Linux is More of the Same
Essence & Accident
•
Fred Brooks’ “No Silver Bullet”
is still
true
•
Programming is less than half the problem
•
Eliminate
Programming Phase
entirely
–
You
wouldn’t even double productivity
•
not to
mention
an order
-
of
-
magnitude improvement
“
Not only are there no silver bullets in view, the very
nature of software makes it unlikely there will be any
—
no
inventions that will do for software productivity, reliability,
and simplicity what electronics, transistors, and large
-
scale
integration did for computer hardware.
”
Humans
•
After 100,000 years
–
Need same Nutrients
–
Need same Rest
–
Have same Emotions
•
Progress?
–
War
–
Crime
–
Prejudice
–
Stupidity
–
Cruelty
BUT
Optimism
•
More Secure
•
More Interesting
•
Longer
Lives
•
We Might be the last
generation that thinks
100 is Old.
Heinrich
Hoerle
Men
-
Machines
1930
Digital Harmony
Penzias
, Arno,
Digital Harmony: Business, Technology & Life After Paperwork
, New York:
HarperBusiness (0
-
88730
-
785
-
X), 1996 (1995).
M
achines
of
Loving Grace
I like to think (and
the sooner the better!)
of a cybernetic meadow
where mammals and computers
live together in mutually
programming harmony
like pure water
touching clear sky
I like to think
(right now, please!)
of a cybernetic forest
filled with pines and electronics
where deer stroll peacefully
past computers
as if they were flowers
with spinning blossoms
M
achines
of
Loving Grace
I like to think
(it has to be!)
of a cybernetic ecology
where we are free of our labors
and joined back to nature,
returned to our mammal
brothers and sisters
and all watched over
by machines of loving grace
Richard
Brautigan
, 1967
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