[codystebbins]

So reading this it seems the primary argument against programming as a professional career is that entry level programming is becoming more accessible to a wider audience.

However I think the author fails to make the argument though that just because some 14 year old can learn JavaScript quickly with a service like codeschool, that means I could hire that kid to replace a senior level programmer with a deep understanding of design patterns, data structures, algorithms, etc. The claim to me states understanding a basic script is all you need to write large scale, complex software. I do not know about everyone else, but I picked up coding pretty quickly and picked up everything else about software over years of patient study so this seems suspect to me.

Software is not just about code, to focus on that makes our job look easy.

I also have some problems with the "credentials = professionalism" argument, but many others in the thread have addressed it.

[bobochan]

I agree with you, but I think that "entry level programming" is unfortunately much further away from the general public. I can still roll over to my Apple //e, reach around and flick the power switch, and be right into a BASIC prompt so that I can start typing in commands. Writing a game in the mid-80s meant a text adventure that would eventually be printed out and published in magazine. The first game that I ever bought was "Ultima" and it came on a floppy inside a resealable gallon kitchen bag. I talk to middle school students all the time that want to know how to code their first FPS before they have even got Hello World up and running.

Setting aside what is best for programmers and their "status," it seems to me that what business needs are hundreds of thousands of employees that have at least enough of a programming background that they can automate some of their most mundane and repetitive tasks. I used to work in finance and I would sometimes wander through the rows of analysts and account managers copying and pasting spreadsheet data and making charts and presentations deep into the night. It is time to stop that insanity, to expose everyone to enough programming so that concepts like loops and if/then statements are understandable.