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Message: <blockquote data-quote="wocky" data-source="post: 2662344" data-attributes="member: 11408">Programming software is always a deal between at least two (but often more) parts. You always have a programmer, and an expert in the subject the program will help with. Sometimes the programmer is the expert, but this is rare in bussiness environments. Between programmer and expert there might be an analyst, who interviews the expert and tries to grasp what might be called the "Bussiness logic", and all knowledge of the subject needed to make the program. An analyst then lays down this knowledge in a "model", that represents the problem in a "language" (diagrams, explanations, etc.) that might be understood either by a "software designer" or the programmer himself (if he's doing the designing). The analyst and designer might be the same person as well, though analysis and design are tasks to be done separately.In what's called "Machine language programming", the programmer knows the in and outs of the specific computer hardware he's writing for, and gives more or less direct instructions to this hardware. At this level programming is hard, and requires thinking in terms of computer concepts, and not bussiness concepts. The programmer is king, because the analyst or client (and probably the designer as well) won't have a clue of what the program does or how. At this level, it's usual for other programmers to really have to strain to understand what the program does as well.Then there's "Low level programming", which shields the programmer from the hardware, but still makes him program using pure programming concepts. Programs are more "readable", but beyond the grasp of an analyst (or designer, perhaps). It's easier to program at this level, so bigger and more complex programs are possible.In a "High level programming language" the line between programmer and designer breaks, since programming is done in "High level concepts" (objects, bussiness rules, logical prepositions, etc.) High level programs should be more readable and very easy to understand by peers. Programming becomes very fast if the right language is chosen for the task (some high level languages are general, but some are very specific). These languages are more complex internally (since there's an intermediate level at which high level concepts are converted to machine instructions), and require extra computing power... so though they have existed for years, they weren't always used.The future should see a trend to higher level languages at which a designer/programmer is no longer needed, and an analyst can work by himself. "Expressing the solution to a problem" should become a synonim with "Programming"; i.e. if you can precisely explain what you need, you can have it. These languages will rely on internal AI to make assumptions and choose solutions, and have huge libraries of small reusable programs (the LEGO block approach mentioned).</blockquote>

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