Which came first – the machine or the word?
In the beginning there was a word and a machine. The word was the machine. And that machine was the word. On the first day, the machine evolved into a platform. On the second the word became a language. On the third – the first people learned the language. The fourth day brought first direct connection between the platform and the humans. On the fifth day the platform joined the human society. On the sixth – the birth of new words, languages and platforms. And on the seventh day all the platforms and all of the humans rested, while the author wrote this article.
Though it might sound like an ancient science fiction – romance novel, this is actually a really basic history of the computer, computer programs, people who develop them and the people who use it.
From the Antikythera mechanism to the Slide rule, from the Z1 to the “Deep Blue”, from the IBM PC to the modern smartphones and tablets. Since the first rational thought of the mind, human beings have tried to find new ways of making calculus easier, automating mechanical process, travel, even design. And though the modern computer was only developed in the 30s of the twentieth century, but you can easily find fine examples of automated process going back as far as the human mind can remember. The Antikythera mechanism is considered to be the oldest mechanical computer, but you should always consider that a machine, which uses gears is basically a computer program and the system of gears is its program.
The thing is – all this would not have been possible without programmers. And a programmer is merely a human being but with an incredible divine superpower – creation.
Sure, one can possibly try to disagree and say that all the people are involved in this magical process – artists, designers, engineers, even philosophers and politicians. They are and in fact – they are all programmers. Just for different kind of devices.
Modern computer and electronic device programmers are one of the most important people in our society. Since computers have been integrated into almost all parts of our life, they cannot program themselves (yet). This has to be done by programmers. And that is why they are so powerful and even dangerous. Think about it. Nuclear weapon launch code buttons are controlled by politicians or military personnel, but they are all programmed by programmers.
Yet, the idea that a programmer can be dangerous is not more realistic than the idea of a mad scientist trying to destroy the world using a “graviton ray” to attract a giant meteor. A programmer would never destroy a world he tries so much to improve.
He or she will use the combination of the greatest arts in the world – mathematics, logic, creativity and philosophy to create the computer program, mobile app, website or any other virtual machine. As a developer you must keep learning new things constantly to keep your creations up to date and fully functional. Furthermore, you have to maintain a proper structure, to keep the things well organised, have good documentation and commenting system, so others might help you take care of the programming, have a good team of designers to help it look modern and slick, have bright and rational QA specialists to find the bugs and technical issues and finally have the best marketing and management staff to make it alive and popular (to make it into an application or a website superstar). Still, most of the bug fixes, design changes and “promotional agent” API implementations (from such as Google, Yahoo or Bing) have to be done by programmers.
And all of those people who are developers and programmers knowing what kind of power they have on their hands, still walk silently among us smiling, watching at our happy expressions when our mobile phone sends a message full of joy to others, a space probe flies to the outskirts of the solar system, we buy our jars of marmite from a local shop. They are always ready for bugs and technical issues, always keeping their minds alert and open for new ways of developing applications.
We are much like the Jedi from Star Wars. Our Force is the code, our lightsaber is the logic and our wisdom is our knowledge of mathematics and rational thinking. And the good thing is – there are no Sith Lords. They are usually overwhelmed by good programmers and open source code, which always wins.
You too can join this wonderful world of programmers and developers. Just “Go back to school” and learn one of many wonderful languages of the code.
Join us. Join the bright side of the force!
