Episode 121 - Arguments Against Programming

Advent of Computing

Most accounts of the early history of programming languages all share something in common. They all have a sentence or two explaining how there was great resistance to these new languages, but eventually all programmers were won over. Progress was made, despite the forces of counterrevolutionaries. What you won't find in most histories are the actual arguments these counterrevolutionaries made. This episode we are looking at those arguments. I've tracked down a handful of papers that argue against digital progress. Are these truly cursed articles, or is there something to be learned from arguments against programming? Selected Sources: https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/1455270.1455272 - Why Not Try A Plugboard? https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/367390.367404 - Comments from a FORTRAN User https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/320932.320939 - Methods of Simulating a Differential Analyzer on a Digital Computer