One of my theories regarding the popularity of certain computer
languages over others is what I call the "right brain component". I
think that one of the goals of certain computer languages, notably
COBOL and Java, was to reduce the right brain component necessary for
an individual to be functional in that language. Today, in their
respective arenas, Cobol and Java have shown some remarkable staying
power. To a slightly lesser extent, the same is true for .Net, which
is reportedly gaining mindshare. Management seems to go for this.
APL and J have a rather high right brain component needed for one to
be functional (pun intended). Arguably, C and most assembler
languages also have a high right brain component, as you really need
to get creative sometimes with the tools that you have to have a
solution. C achieved immense popularity by being in the right place
at the right time and being small and portable. Java, which purports
to be more a copy of C than C++, is sold on the grounds of being
extremely sanitary.
Having said that, I suspect that Java and the main .Net languages
(newspeak) had been created to help outsource work to places where
left brain work is a commodity. Certainly the work flow software such
as Visual Studio comes with a team edition which allows the managed
collaboration of hundreds of programmers. Until now, there hasn't
been a Bangalore Basic, but soon enough, this brave new culture will
learn to fuse left and right brain thinking for some really creative
problem solving,
Is "programmer/analyst" still a job title?
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