[jason]

Todays typesetter is the sysadmin not the programmer. As the authors improve software to lower maintenance and hardware is moved to the cloud one sysadmin will do more than the IT dept could ever do. Help desk function will also shrink as users become more savvy, workstations more secure, and recovery automation ubiquitous. But remember type setters had a good run in the west, 1450 - 1960's.

[btwelch]

I agree, but programming will follow suit.

CASE didn't cut it because business users, the REAL target customers for CASE, weren't savvy enough yet. Now, business users are just as likely to look at code as they are business requirements. I see this often in my work. So, the original idea of replacing unkempt engineers with smooth business people can probably move forward soon.

But, don't get me wrong, it won't be because business users are now savvy enough to take on hard-core programming. Rather it will be due to an active open-source community, who have been working to give business users big chunks of modular functionality that they can use like Duplo blocks to build the software solutions they need.

In the corporate world, the future role of software developers, to me, is seeming to tend towards a Business Analyst/Systems Engineering role-combination.

[gnaritas]

The problem is businesses are never satisfied with the duplo blocks, it gives them no competitive advantage. They nearly always want highly customized software that precisely fits their needs; no, programmers aren't going anywhere any time soon.