On The End of the Beginning
"Computers are no longer exotic, science-fictional wonders, they're a part of our everyday lives. And, as the off-shoring trend of recent years has made excruciatingly clear, programming is no longer a rarefied skill exclusive to a gifted few. To a large extent it's become a routine trade that almost anyone - anywhere - can perform. A commodity."
Chewy stuff here from the computer consultant and educator who wrote the book on Java NIO. And I absolutely love some of the curmudgeonly-ness of the analysis of current coding practices as I sense a bit of "it was hard back in my day" here. You know: uphill, those programmers had to walk. Both ways. Not like us young whippersnappers with our objects and patterns and IDE software. (The writing style of the experienced: how fun! I aspire to be high-quality cranky later if I am allowed.) But some of it hits me where I live, particularly as he succinctly nails a sentiment I share (and have been struggling to express) regarding coding with IntelliJ. "I began to think of coding less as a text editing activity and more as an object crafting activity." Totally.
